After the Storm
by slayer0109
Summary: A continuation/recreation of the end of episode 5. This contains major spoilers for episode 5!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hello, so I know it's been awhile and I will explain myself down below because I want to avoid spoilers for any of those who may have clicked on this out of curiosity. Complete episode 5 before reading this!

 **-I** **f you have not completed episode 5 I wouldn't read this, because it will spoil the episode.**

* * *

Max buried her face into Chloe's shoulder seeking any comfort she could possibly have a time like this as she heard the destruction behind her. The tornado wreaked havoc upon their home while Max's mind scrambled to try and make everything stop. The wind, the rain, the noise, all of it serving as a weight weighing down on her fragile heart that was already heavy with the life altering decision that had been made.

She thought of Warren who was always there for her, defending her from Nathan whether it was in the parking lot or at the dorms. He was always such a good friend and the one who made this moment possible. Even when everything was at an end, he believed Max without question.

She thought of Joyce and her breakfasts that she absolutely loved. Seeing her at the diner was always a highlight and Joyce was always so happy to see her. She had welcomed Max back to Arcadia Bay with open arms and now. . .

Max felt tears swell up in her eyes as she listened to the tornado and thought about how close the diner was to the ocean where she knew they were staying. All she could do now was turn from Chloe's shoulder for a moment as the destruction neared the shore.

"I'm so sorry, Chloe," Max said as she turned back quickly and grabbed Chloe's shirt before crying into it hard.

Chloe didn't say anything, she just simply wrapped her arms around Max as she watched the horrific sight of Arcadia Bay being washed away like she had once wished for. It wasn't a wish now as she thought of all the people she knew, all the places she had been, and all the memories she had made being torn away.

"Did I do the right thing?" Max cried as Chloe looked down to her.

"Max, you saved me," Chloe said as Max looked up at her momentarily before glancing back at the town. "Hey, don't look at that," Chloe said turning Max's face back to her with a grab of her chin. "Just look at me, Max, everything will be alright, I promise."

Chloe felt tears of her own start running down her cheeks as she kept her eyes on Max's broken expression. Even with all the rain, she could see that Max was crying harder than she ever had before.

"You did what was right in your heart and that is all that matters!"

Max let her head drop a little before being pulled into a tight hug. Chloe couldn't even imagine what Max was feeling right now, but she was sure she didn't want Max to see anything that was happening. It was hard enough for Chloe to deal with as tears ran down her face. Their home was being destroyed and there was now officially nothing they could do about it.

"Come on Max, neither of us should have to watch this," Chloe said Max lifted her head a little as they both glanced back at the town they called home for one last time. This moment would be forever burned into their minds.

* * *

 **The next morning. . .**

Chloe jumped awake as the sound of a car driving by startled her. She blinked once or twice as she took a deep breath, she was exhausted. She glanced down to Max who was still asleep laying up against her. Chloe could help but feel bad for her, even in sleep Max looked troubled and on the verge of tears.

She sighed a little as she glanced out the driver side window and took a deep breath to try and fight the tears she felt coming herself. She had helped Max back to her truck the day before, it served as their shelter tonight and even though she wasn't directly in town the wreckage was evident. Remnants of what was homes, businesses, vehicles laid all over.

"Chloe. . ."

She glanced down to Max who was twitching in her sleep a little before taking a sharp breath in.

"Max, wake up, Max," Chloe said with a shake of the girls shoulder as Max's eyes popped open. Chloe couldn't bear to see or hear that right now.

"Where am I?"

"We're in my truck, Max. . . The storm is over."

Max quickly sat up at the mention of the storm as she looked around outside the vehicle before her eyes settled on Chloe. "Is this real, Chloe? Am I still dreaming?"

"Max."

"What if I can still change this?" Max asked her breathing become more rapid.

"Max."

"I can still go back, I can save everyone."

"Max!" Chloe yelled this time before pulling her close and kissing her as firmly as she could when all she really wanted to do was cry. "There is no more going back. . . This is it."

Max swallowed as she thought about what that meant.

"The future is what we make it from here on out. What's done is done and even if we do decide that one day we want to change it we can't, we don't have any pictures to go back with. When that day comes though, I will be there to help you through it. . . I mean it, Max. I'm never leaving you, no matter what happened. It wasn't fair to ask you to make that decision and... I know even if I say I wouldn't that I would have saved you in a heartbeat."

Chloe took a deep breath as she glanced out the driver's side window again feeling tears this time in her eyes. "I love you, Max and I'm glad you chose me."

"Will you be when we enter town?"

Chloe glanced back to Max who wasn't looking at her but she could see the serious expression. This was weighing heavy on her.

"Yes. . . Even if it is hard to accept what we find, I will not blame you, Max."

Max looked to Chloe for a moment looking as if she was ready to cry again. "Chloe, I'm so sorry for anything that has happened. I just. . . I just can't let you go."

Chloe sniffled a little as she nodded and started the truck, "I know Max. I know. . . The only thing there is to do now is go find what we find."

Max just simply nodded as Chloe pulled onto the road, "I just hope it's worse than it looked."

* * *

 **About ten minutes later. . .**

Chloe sighed as the truck came to a crawl, seeing the main road full of so much destruction was hard to look at. They both signs from buildings that they recognized. Chloe glanced to Max for a moment who was just covering her mouth. She didn't have any words, she knew there was nothing she could say to ease her pain especially when she couldn't even ease her own.

"Let's go check out the diner, it's just down the road from here."

Those would be the only words spoken as they slowly drove through the debris and destruction left behind by the tornado. The street they both knew so well would never be the same, it didn't need to be said.

"This is crazy."

Max glanced to Chloe who was busy looking around. She was in too much pain to say anything.

"The diner is just over there, but I think we are going to have to walk," Chloe explained as she stopped the truck in the middle of the road just before a downed sign.

"Chloe, there is something I need to tell you," Max said feeling that guilty feeling in her heart.

"What is it, Max?"

Max sighed glancing towards the direction of the diner, "when I was trying to find my way back to you, I ended up at the diner. Warren was there and gave me a picture so I could save you."

Chloe took a deep breath, she could tell by the tone in Max's voice that there was more and it wasn't good.

"Chloe, Joyce was also in that diner and. . ." Max's overwhelming emotions stopped her from continuing.

"Max, I've already thought about what I might find there, but I can't just leave without knowing for sure."

"I can't either, I just. . . I just want to make sure we are both aware of what we might find there."

Chloe nodded as she gave Max a smile even though tears were running down her face at the thought of losing her mom. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Max leaned in and hugged Chloe tightly for a moment, "I'm sorry. You asked me to let you die and I."

Chloe put her fingers over Max's lips to stop her from talking anymore, "Max, I already told you that none of this is your fault. I will never blame you, like I said, it's not fair for one person to have to make a decision like that."

Chloe took a deep breath to calm herself as she glanced out the front window of the truck. "The worst thing we can right now is wait. If mom is still al…" Chloe chocked up for a moment before shaking it off, "we need to help her."

Max took a deep breath herself at the thought of Joyce being gone, "you're right. Let's go look."

Both girls jumped out of the truck before meeting in front of the truck to hold hands as they walked around the downed sign and saw what was left standing of the diner.

Max could feel Chloe's grip tighten a little from the sight before them. The walls were still standing, but it looked like the roof was torn up pretty bad.

"Oh shit," was all Chloe could get herself to mutter as a feeling of dread washed over her.

With a quick glance they started walking again towards the diner.

"The front door wasn't working when I tried last time, I had to go through the back," Max said glancing over towards the door which still seemed to be standing.

She sighed inwardly once they got to the door and opened it. The shelves with cans of food were still standing, but the cans themselves had been thrown all over the place.

"Max, whatever happens, know that I will never leave you," Chloe said as they approached the door that led to the dining area. She took a deep breath before slowly pushing it open.

She glanced to her right immediately noticing Frank's lifeless body sitting up against the counter.

"Oh my god, Frank," Chloe said as she quickly went over to him and shook him only to watch him slouch over. "H-he's dead."

Max swallowed as she closed her eyes for a moment.

"Mom?" Chloe called out as the diner remained silent. "Mom are you here?"

"Chloe," Max said with a tear in her eye as she looked at a message written on the diner's main serving area.

" _Chloe, I don't know where you are right now, but if you find this know that no matter what happens, I love you."_

Chloe took a deep breath as she raised a hand to her forehead, "oh my god."

Max quickly stepped forward to stabilize Chloe who looked like she might faint.

"This can't be real. She has to be here still."

"Mom!" Chloe shouted before heading into the backroom.

"Mom!" She shouted again as her emotions started making their way into her voice.

Max looked down at the message and closed her eyes as the sound of Chloe's screams brought her to tears. "I'm so sorry, Chloe," Max said never taking her eyes off the message. "This is all my fault, I should have. . . I should. . ." Max covered her face with her hands as the tears let lose.

"Mom!" Chloe cried as she rushed back into the diner to find Max curled into a ball crying.

"This is all my fault," Max cried as Chloe got down on her knees in front of Max. "I killed, Joyce."

"No you didn't, Max."

"I'm so sorry, Chloe. I should have just stayed out of your life," Max cried as she glanced over to Frank before being pulled into a hug.

"Don't say things like that, Max. I need your right now, we're not done searching yet. . . And even if… Even if the worse is true, we both knew this could happen."

Max sniffled but nodded, "I know, I just. . . Can I have a minute please?"

Chloe nodded as she stood again and wiped her own tears. She glanced down to the message quickly for heading out into the diner to check the bathrooms.

Nothing.

Chloe sighed, she was actually glad that nothing was there, because the back was clear too. She glanced up to the big hole in the ceiling though and wondered for a moment. She wiped her eyes again and sniffled before making her way back around to Max who was looking up at the big hole above her. They both had the same thought on their mind.

"The good news is she isn't here. Unfortunately that leaves the question as to why Frank is still here."

"Chloe, I. . ."

"Save it, Max. I don't want to hear you say anything bad about yourself anymore."

Max looked down at the floor for a moment before getting up on her feet with the help of Chloe, "thanks."

"Don't worry about it, it's the least I can do for as many times as you've picked me up," Chloe said as she grabbed a marker from behind the counter. "I'm going to leave a message for my mom just in case she comes by here. . . God, I really hope she does."

"Me too," Max said as she watched Chloe sign the message.

"Let's grab some food while we're here. We might want to grab enough for a few days, we don't even know if my house is still standing."

"If it's not we will have to check Blackwell. It's getting colder at night, we can't live in your truck forever."

Chloe smiled, "you're right, but let's worry about that later. I'm sure we could pick some blankets up from the nearby store. I doubt they'll need them anymore."

Max sighed with a nod, "let's just hope the entire town isn't destroyed."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright so this will be the actual author's note for this chapter. I usually put them up top and will continue to do so after this chapter. I have some explaining to do because I have Caught Together unfinished still. No, I have not forgotten about it and yes, I still plan on posting it. My school schedule has been rather hectic and has really cut me off of Fan fiction entirely as I've been putting all my free time into other things. That being said my classes have changed (I'm doing accelerated courses) so now I don't have as much to do. I should be getting back into the swing of things here. This chapter was written literally within 2 hours of beating episode 5 which I am still extremely torn up about. I am so sad that the game is over, I can't even express it. These are my favorite types of games and I will say that Life is Strange is my favorite of them. This will be a game I come back to and play again down the line.

That being said, it is also a game that I want to write for so bad it hurts. I chose the ending to save Chloe because I am a horrible monster. Realistically though, this story is kind my answer to that decision. However, I unfortunately was not very pleased with the ending I got. I watched both of them after beating the game and just cried the entire time for the other ending, it was one of those moments where you just sit in silence and wonder why you are alive because you feel so dead inside.

Unfortunately, I got the ending where they drive through the town and just kind of "oh hey everything is dead and Max just seems slightly depressed. Let's drive off into the sunset without checking literally anything. The end." No, I will not accept that, I am not super upset about it, but this left so many question I personally wanted answered unanswered and #$% #$ # I wanted to see them kiss again! So this is my vision of how it ended and err continued past that point. I started this chapter off right during the moment you decide to save Chloe and tear the butterfly picture in half.

I may have to play through the chapter a few more times to get everything straight in my head, but I already know a few things that are going to happen in this story. This is the first chapter and I hope you really enjoy it. My mind is fully on this right now and I am excited to get to the next chapter, I will post these as I go which is typical.

If you have any questions or just want to talk about the game (I need someone to talk to D: those feels. . .) and or this story PLEASE send me a message, I would love to hear from you.

Added note for the MSGM fans that may read this. Mind Games, I haven't forgotten, I've just been beaten temporarily. I have been thinking of that story too lately, I will come back to it, I just need to find where it's going again because where it was I wasn't happy with.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Alright so this will be a normal authors note for me which is updates yada yada and then my more in depth thoughts will be after the chapter so I don't spoil the chapter! Anyways, I wanted to say thank you for all the follows, reviews, and messages. It was amazing and I wanted to point out that I was actually aware that you can kiss Chloe in the ending where you sacrifice her. I did watch that ending after beating the game with my decision and I also did cry like a complete baby during that entire ending. I thought it was done really well, but I still stand by my decision to save Chloe.

Alright, so I don't believe this chapter is as long, but this is about the normal length I would expect from me. I will be starting three as soon as this is posted. Thanks again for all the support!

* * *

Chloe sighed as she watched Max putting the last of the canned food into the back of her truck. It had taken about five trips back and forth between the two of them to get the food to the truck. Chloe didn't' know what to expect though and figured preparing for the worst might be the best option. Her first priority after getting the food to the truck though was sitting Max down which she did by opening the passenger door and trying to talk with her.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Chloe asked curiously as Max sighed a little and looked towards the diner.

"I'm holding together I guess, I just. . ."

"Max this isn't your fault. I know you had the power to stop this and I know you could have prevented this, but there was no guarantee it would have worked right?"

Max looked down at the ground for a moment in thought, "if it did though."

"If it didn't you would be sitting in your dorm right now dealing with the fact that you never get to see me again and the tornado still might be here."

Chloe sighed when she saw a tear fall from Max's face. "Hey listen, I didn't mean. . ." Chloe shook her head. "Shit, way to be an insensitive ass, Chloe."

Max shook her head, "no, Chloe, it's not that. This is just kind of hard to deal with knowing I could have possibly stopped it. I would have lost you though and. . ."

Chloe hugged Max who was still sitting on the passenger side seat of the truck facing out. "Thank you, Max. Thank you for choosing me as selfish as that sounds."

Max sniffled as she hugged Chloe back, "I'll be the selfish one and say that I did it because I love you."

Chloe glanced down momentarily before kissing the top of Max's head, "I love you too, Max and not just because you've saved my life multiple times."

Max finally smiled a little as she let Chloe take a step back before looking up at her.

"That's better," Chloe commented before glancing to the back of the truck. "Anyways, you should eat something. We've both haven't had anything and have been through a lot. Unfortunately, for now your options are cold canned food options."

"Grab something that both of us can eat, I don't care what it is right now."

Chloe nodded as she grabbed a can of food before making her way around the truck to her side of the vehicle and jumping in. "Looks like we're really bumming it now, beans from the can for breakfast using silverware we stole from the local diner."

"Something tells me they won't notice," Max said as Chloe smiled, any thought that could make either of them laugh right now was definitely needed. "So how do we plan on getting to your house?"

Chloe took a bite of her food before looking at the sign in front of them. There was some room to the left of it, but she wasn't sure could fit through and make the turn. Then again the diners sign was downed too and she didn't really pay attention, but the road looked even more blocked.

"We're going to have to find another way, I think I saw the road before us was clear enough to get through, we could probably make it there. You let me worry about that though, you just eat up alright?"

"You know I wasn't the only one who has eaten."

Chloe nodded as she turned the truck on and put it in reverse, "I know, Max, but I didn't have to make a decision like you did. No one ever has and I know it's eating away at you."

Max remained silent as Chloe glanced out her window and saw a path she could get through.

"Let's just head to my place, we can see what we have there."

Max just simply nodded as she took another bite of her food. She knew she wouldn't be able to eat much right now though with how she felt.

* * *

 **About ten minutes later. . .**

"Here is my street," Chloe said in a grim tone as the two looked at the houses or at least what was left of the houses.

"This place has been destroyed," Max said as Chloe glanced to her.

"Yea, but it's not as bad as the shoreline was," Chloe said pointing out the fact that they could drive down the road relatively easy compared to where the diner was. "Just remember, Max. No matter what happens we stay together."

Max nodded, how could Chloe be so seemingly calm during a situation like this?

"I'll be with you until the very end," Max said as Chloe smiled a little before stopping the truck and climbing out. She stood in silence as she looked at the remains of her home, nothing was left standing. All she could do was envision what it used to look like as a tear found its way down her cheek.

"Fuck."

Max turned to Chloe who put her head down and took a deep breath.

"Fuck!" Chloe yelled as Max made her way around the truck to comfort her.

"How can I feel this way about a place I said I wanted to run away from? I always talked about how I never wanted to see this place again and. . ."

"Shh," Max said as she played her part this time and let Chloe cry into her shoulder as she looked at the rubble that was the house. The only thing standing on this street was a garage a few houses down and even then most of the roof of caved in.

"We need to be strong right now Chloe. We need to search for any signs of. . ."

"I know," Chloe said interrupting her. Neither of them wanted to say the name they were both thinking. "Let's start looking."

* * *

 **About fifty minutes later. . .**

"Mom are you here?" Chloe called out as she picked up a piece of debris and tossed it aside. She had been calling out with Max since they started and got no response.

Max could tell Chloe was getting more desperate time went on, she was picking boards up and throwing them quickly. Her calls for her mother were getting more desperate and the tone in her voice was becoming more defeated by the minute.

"Mom, please tell me you can hear me!" Chloe cried out before finally giving in and kneeling down to hold herself up as best she could. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Max dropped the board she had in her hand before making it over to where Chloe was breaking down.

"Holy shit, this can't be happening."

"Chloe breathe," Max said as Chloe took a deep breath before putting a hand to her stomach.

"I think I'm going to puke," Chloe said as she felt herself dry heave a little.

Max watched for just a second before carefully running back to the truck and grabbing a bottle of water.

"Here drink this," Max said as she handed Chloe the bottle of water. "Let's get you back to the truck, you need to take a break."

Chloe grabbed the bottle and took what felt like the biggest drink she ever had. It did little to stop her from feeling the way she did, but she wasn't puking. She sat for a minute or two taking deep breaths and trying to stop the tears as she looked around.

"Come on, let's get you to the truck," Max said again as she help Chloe stand up and led her to the truck. "You just sit here and calm down, I'm going to keep looking. Just yell if you need anything."

Chloe just simply nodded before looking back to the house momentarily and taking a drink of water again.

Max kissed her on the cheek when she got the chance, "We'll keep looking for a few more hours, but we need to find a place to stay tonight too. I can already feel it getting colder."

Chloe nodded, she wasn't really ready to talk quite yet.

"I'll be right over there."

* * *

 **Hours later. . .**

Chloe took a deep breath as she leaned against the truck with Max and took a drink of water. The two had been searching all day and found nothing, they didn't even see or hear a single person. They imagined if there were people alive they were doing the exact same thing they were.

"We can't stay here any longer. The sun is starting to go down," Chloe said as she glanced off towards the sunset. "We don't have any light and we need to find some warmth for tonight."

"I'm surprised rescue teams aren't here yet," Max said as Chloe recalled the truck this morning.

"I'm sure they're on their way, Max. I want to search on my own a little bit more though before we look for them."

Max looked to Chloe's house which they had been digging through for hours. "I don't think she is there, Chloe."

Chloe looked towards the house.

"I hope you're right, Max. God do I hope you are right."

Max looked towards the sunset again briefly, "I hate to say it but we should go."

Chloe turned and glanced through the front windshield of the truck quickly before looking back towards the house.

"Yea, but first let me make a sign. I'll tell her we are going to Blackwell."

Max nodded as Chloe went on got the marker she took from the diner. All she could do was watch from inside the truck as Chloe wrote something on a board from the house. She made sure it would be visible by creating a circle around it with no debris. Once it was done she stood there for a moment and looked up at her house.

This was the place where she grew up, where William lived, where her mother raised her, and. . . Chloe closed her eyes, all the memories she had in this place were now just that, memories. She wiped a tear from her eye as she looked up to the sky where she knew from memory that her bedroom window should be.

Max teared up herself at this sight, but she knew Chloe needed a minute and after watching her for a while longer, Chloe turned towards her and smiled. Pain was written all across her face and the fact that she had been crying she didn't even care to hide. She slowly walked back to the truck and got in before finally wiping her eyes and feeling Max's hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Chloe."

Chloe glanced to Max for a moment and nodded before turning the truck on and glancing to the house one last time. The sun setting the way it was cast a dark shadow over all the rubble which was a painful reminder that life would go on.

"Let's go to Blackwell, together."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright so this chapter has given me a a few challenges and in this bottom note I like to detail my thoughts about the chapter and tell you what I changed or didn't include. So first thing is first, Frank is the second death I've ever included in one of my stories, I just don't generally do that so if there reaction was a little odd I apologize.

The big thing in this chapter that I'm trying to focus on better is max's mood and Chloe's mood. During the end of episode 5 Max seems so strong to me as a character and Chloe does too, but you can see I reduce Max to a mess real quick with her questioning whether it was the right decision. In my head this will be something that haunts max for the rest of her life, but maybe not. During this chapter I have Chloe mention that it was no guarantee this tornado would have stopped and I'm referring to the fact that max envisioned the tornado before she rewound time. I know there is probably some extremely good explanations as to why she envisioned it beforehand, but for my story I am going with the idea that it was out of place. If it really was the rewind powers don't you think this vision would have started happening after she rewound and not before? That is my thinking atleast for that decision which will play a part later in the story.

This chapter kind of focused on Chloe and her mood. Chloe always mentioned how bombing arcadia bay or wiping it off the map would be no big deal, but I don't believe she really feels that way. Having her exposed to the idea that her life that she thought was boring and stupid is completely gone isn't easy to deal with and while she is searching the house in this chapter she finally cracks under the pressure. How do you help someone who is experiencing this though? especially when they know you had the option to possibly change it all? It's a point I don't think I'll be satisfied giving and answer to, but I'm trying.

The entire time I write this that song from the end of episode 5 is on repeat in my head which really sets the mood I am trying to go for. Especially when Max is watching Chloe from the truck look at her house.

The last thing I want to mention is the fact that Blackwell was going to be in this chapter. I decided to make it it's own because I really wanted to explore it a bit. I didn't just want it to be oh hey we're here GG. I think it deserves it's own chapter especially since I don't believe this story will be super long. That being said I did say that this is a rewrite/continuation of the story so it can go farther than just the end. We'll see where I take it.

Anyways, these notes are usually longer, but they kind of detail what I'm thinking and how I came to certain decisions in the story. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter because I am personally loving this story and watching the ending over and over again to keep myself in the right mood for it. I believe this story is reliant on a certain mood which is hard for me to get at if I'm not feeling it. Thankfully the song itself is enough to get me there at this point. D: D: D:


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Hey, so I am trying to put these out as quickly as possible. I have basically been writing it since I woke up. That being said I may be able to get another chapter out today, but if I don't I'm sorry. I'm really enjoying this story and I've already got future plans involving this story, but I will get to those later. Here is chapter 3, I hope you enjoy it and seriously thank you all for the favorites, follows, and reviews. They are amazing!

* * *

The drive to Blackwell was a silent one as both them of looked at the destruction on the way there. The only good news for them so far is that they had not found anyone they know aside from frank and that building were standing much more frequently the farther they went into town.

"It's scary here," Max said finally breaking the silence as she looked out the window her head was leaning against. "To see our home with no one here."

"There is people here, Max. I'm sure they are just trying to find shelter for the night. It is getting colder, the storm didn't really help that either."

"Do you think Blackwell is still standing?" Max asked as Chloe nodded.

"I think that place probably had the best chance out of any."

"I feel so bad about this," Max said with another glance out the window as the truck came to a stop and Chloe took a deep breath.

"I do too, but that is why we are going to stick together, because we are the only ones that know what we're going through." Chloe felt more tears as she pressed her teeth together trying to stop them. She wondered if they would ever be able to make it twenty minutes without crying again. "Life will never be the same for us."

"I just wish there was another way where everything could be fine and no one dies."

"I do too, Max. I do too," Chloe said as she glanced up and saw the outline of something she recognized. "Our luck may have just change a little though."

Max raised an eyebrow as she looked to Chloe before feeling the truck move and turn towards a building. "This place has blankets and it is still standing, I bet they're still dry," Chloe explained as she turned the high beams on before stepping out of the truck. "Wait here Max, I'll just be a second."

Max nodded as she sat in the truck and watched Chloe enter the store through a broken window. The building was still standing but the windows had been shattered and the door had something sitting in front of it.

A few minutes passed as Max moved closer to the edge of her seat trying hard to see if she could spot Chloe, the light from the sun was pretty much gone at this point. She turned the trucks heater on and looked around, the high beams illuminating other spots of the street. It felt eerie sitting her like she was, it was dark and the city lights weren't turning on. There was no signs of life anywhere, Max cursed herself for watching the movies she did right now.

"Max!"

Max jumped in her seat at the sudden call as she saw Chloe standing in front of the truck holding blankets.

"They're completely dry, help me grab some more," Chloe said as she came around to her door and opened put the blankets inside. "The back of the truck is still wet, so keep them in here."

Max just nodded as she got out of the truck and waited for Chloe to lead her to the blankets.

"We just need a few more for tonight, especially if Blackwell isn't there anymore," Chloe said as she grabbed some blankets and handed them to Max.

Once back in the truck Chloe breathed on her hands. "It's definitely a cold one tonight."

Max nodded as she watched Chloe turn up the heat. "Thankfully the heat works and we have a pile of blankets now."

Chloe nodded, "yea, let's get to Blackwell though, it's already dark and it doesn't look like the street lights will be coming on anytime soon."

"Let's just hope it's still standing or it's going to be a long cold night," Max said as Chloe nodded in agreement.

* * *

 **Ten or so minutes later. . .**

Chloe stopped the truck as she looked out the passenger window with Max. She could see the outline of the building everything still looked intact. She noticed that the parking lot was pretty empty though.

"Do you think they tried to escape?" Max asked as Chloe looked to her for a moment before placing a hand on her shoulder.

"They did escape, that is why we haven't seen any of them," Chloe answered trying to keep Max calm, she was feeling just as hopeless in this situation.

"Let's drive up to the dorms though so we don't have to walk very far without blankets." Max nodded as Chloe managed her way as close to the dorms as she could get. "Alright, home sweet home."

Max glanced out the window, she could see the building was still standing and even the doors looked like they were undamaged.

"Aside from some downed trees and things like that this looks alright," Chloe noted as she stepped out of the truck with a few blankets in hand. "I'll let you lead the way."

Max nodded as she grabbed a few blankets herself and entered the building with Chloe. It was dead silent and dark. The only good thing is that the light was coming in from the window at the end of the hall so max could judge where she was better.

"Do you think anyone is here?" Max asked a Chloe looked around though it was almost pitch black in there.

"I don't think so, you think we would hear something or see signs of life. It looks like this place was just abandoned."

Max took a deep breath and kept going feeling the wall on her right with her hand until she felt her dorm room door.

"It's here," Max said as she pushed open the door and felt a chill run down her spine, the window was cracked a little bit. She felt her bed for a minute before setting the blankets down. "It's dry, but I'm going to shut the window."

Chloe just nodded as she looked around and the faintly lit room. It didn't really look like anything at all happened here."

"Let's go get the rest of the blankets and something to eat. Then we can work on warming up."

"Yea, let's," Max agreed with a sigh as she turned to leave the room. This place felt different even though it wasn't. The reality that nothing would ever be the same here was sad. The days of wondering if she would open her door and see Victoria standing there were now things she wished could happen. This room was the same, but at the same time completely different. The last time she was in here everything was still alright. A time that she now wished more than ever she didn't take for granted.

"You coming Max?" Chloe asked as Max nodded and wiped a tear out of her eye. "Yea, I just… Fuck this storm."

Chloe smiled a little as Max followed her out of the building and back to the truck. "Grab the rest of the blankets, I'll get some food for us," Chloe said as she turned the truck off and took her keys.

Max waited patiently for her before heading back into the building and making their way back to Max's room.

"Let's hope it doesn't get cloudy or we won't be able to see anything," Chloe said with a sigh as Max nodded before remembering something.

"Wait, do you have a lighter, Chloe?"

"Yea, I have one, why?"

"I'll be right back, I'm just going down the hall for a second," Max said as she left the room for a minute. She walked straight across the hall until she felt Victoria's door. From there she followed the wall until she felt another door.

"I'm sorry, Kate. Something tells me that you would be alright with this though," Max said as she felt around for the candles on the floor near Kate's door.

Once she grabbed as many as she could find she made her way back to her room which was easier to see with the door open, it was a little lighter than the hallway she was in.

"Where did you go, Max?" Chloe asked as Max shut her bedroom door and kneeled down to the floor setting the candles down in front of her. "What are those?" Chloe asked trying to make out the mysterious dark figures.

"Give me your lighter," Max said as Chloe handed it to her and Max light one of the candles. "They are from Kate's room. . . I feel bad taking them, but something tells me nobody will be visiting anymore."

Chloe looked at Max for a moment before kneeling down next to her and giving a hug. It would be the first time today she could just really sit and be with Max. "I'm sure she would be fine with it considering our situation."

Max nodded as she lit the other ones and set them around the room. Thankfully they all still had a bit to them so they would be lit for a while.

"Here why don't you wrap yourself up in a blanket, you're freezing," Chloe said as she grabbed a big one off of Max's bed and put it around her shoulders.

Max looked at Chloe for a moment before standing up and moving to her bed. "Would it be weird if I asked you to cuddle with me?"

Chloe smiled as she stood herself and removed the coat she had been wearing. "Not at all, Max, you're my best friend."

Max rested her head against the wall as the words played over in her head.

"Chloe, what do you mean when you say you love me?" Max asked curiously as Chloe curled up under the blanket with her.

"I mean, I love you. What else would I mean?"

"I just wanted to know if it meant the same to you as is does to me. . ."

Chloe blinked once or twice realizing what Max was getting at now. "What does it mean to you?"

Max closed her eyes as she thought for a moment, "throwing away an entire town just so I can have a chance at living my life with you."

Chloe paused for a moment as the room fell silent, she wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Max, can I kiss you?"

Max turned towards Chloe with question on her face before nodding slightly. Chloe carefully and slowly moved in until their lips were touching. The awkwardness lasted only a few second before Chloe really kissed her.

"This is what I meant when I said I love you, Max. I really love you."

Max felt a small blush as she look down embarrassed. "So we are seeing it the same then," Max said as Chloe smiled a little. "Do you think it was selfish to destroy the town so I could possibly be with you?"

"I think there was no guarantee the other option would have worked," Chloe replied as Max looked to her. "If I put myself in your shoes, Max. . . I couldn't do it. Just thinking about waking up today and knowing that I will never ever see you again or hear your voice again."

Chloe shook her head before resting it against the wall and sighing.

"That is the stuff of nightmares and I know for a fact there are people all over the world who would have done the same thing."

"You're beating around the bush," Max said as Chloe nodded.

"That is because I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. You don't deserve to live you life feeling horrible over something like this. It's not fair."

"It's not, but I was dealt these cards."

"And you played them how you wanted, so you did absolutely nothing wrong."

Max sighed realizing there was no arguing with Chloe, but that did make her feel better oddly enough. "Thanks Chloe."

"What type of girl…"

Max looked at her with a raised eyebrow as Chloe considered her own words for a moment.

"Is that what we are?"

Max looked away from her for a moment before shrugging, "I don't know."

Chloe nodded, "girlfriends. . . I like it."

Max looked to her for a moment before smiling, "I like it too."

"Good then it's settled," Chloe said as she looked around the room for a moment. "We have to find my mom now so we can tell her."

"We will find her. We're not leaving this town until we do."

Chloe glanced out the window, "we should probably put a blanket up over those for tonight though. It's getting pretty cold outside at night and the heat isn't on anymore here. It's going to get cold tonight."

"I think I have something we can hang the blanket up with. If not we can just go look in the other rooms. I'm sure we could find something."

"Unfortunately my phone is dead so we will just have to use the candles if we do go search," Chloe mentioned as Max nodded, her phone had died earlier that day.

"Wait a minute, my laptop," Max said as she climbed off her bed and grabbed the computer sitting on her desk. "It almost has a full charge, we can charge our phones on this. I bet there is others here too."

"Yes, now we are talking Max. I'll go check victoria's room and see if she has a computer sitting around."

"Alright, take a candle with you, I'll see if I can't find something to put a blanket up with."

* * *

 **Twenty minutes later. . .**

Max took a deep breath as she snuggled closer to Chloe who was sitting under the same blanket that she was. After putting the blanket up, they broke into a can of food that they had brought it and started eating. It was dimly lit in the room, but they were warm, they had food, Max's guitar, and each other.

"Max, I know we've gone over this, but I feel like I need to say it again," Chloe spoke as Max took another bite of her food. "I really do love you and no matter what happens, I will never blame you."

". . .I know, Che"

Chloe sat in silence for a moment. "I just feel like it needs to be said again."

"Thank you, it really does mean a lot."

"I would do anything for you, Max, I mean it."

Max smiled this time before glancing down the food that Chloe had, "why don't you eat up then. I know today has been stressful on you too."

"It has been," Chloe admitted before taking a bite of her food and looking at the blanket in the window to make sure it was going to hold up overnight. "I think we will really be able to sleep tonight though. It's already feeling much better in here."

"It is," Max agreed before looking down at her food. "Let's just hope we find more tomorrow than we did today."

. . .

. . .

"We will."

It was all Chloe could say because like Max she knew there was no certainty that it would be true. They hadn't even seen a single person today except for the vehicle that drove by them early that morning.

"It feels weird knowing that this will probably be the last time I am ever in this room. This feels more like home now than anything else and all the meaning surrounding it is gone now."

"That isn't true, Max. The meaning is still here. It's just like my home," Chloe sighed as she glanced around the room. "It may have been destroyed, but the memories are still there and that particular spot will never be erased from who I am."

"I just wish there was another way," Max said as she looked at her hand. "I have this power and yet I feel so helpless."

Chloe sighed, "Don't think about that, Max. Perhaps it's best if we try and get some sleep. I know we could both use it."

"You're right," Max said as she took her food and set it on the floor by her bed as Chloe did the same. She moved a little so Chloe could climb under the covers before offering her a spot. Once they were both settled Chloe wrapped her arms around Max's stomach and pulled her close.

"Try and get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be another big day."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright so the only thing I really have to say about this chapter is that the rescue services are not here yet, really? I'm going off the game here and they drove through the town presumably the next day with no sign of life anywhere and that is what I'm going with. That is why they are in this survival situation at the moment. As far as the weather goes, I am from Minnesota personally and I am basing it off where I live. It's not exactly warm at night here in October depending on the year. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes it's freezing. So that is that decision and why I am doing it like that. Other than that the big thing here is that a relationship has been formed.

I wanted to rush this and just have that kiss scene, but it didn't feel right and even here it wasn't a big romantic scene it was just something that I felt Max really needed to get off her chest. I'm sure, like many of you, that you want Max and Chloe to be together and that is why we all avoided hugging Warren and gave him up to the tornado. Seriously though, I believe when Chloe says I'll be with you forever is kind of their unspoken relationship forming. Again though this is fan fiction so you can disagree with me, this is just what I think of it.

So those are the thoughts I have on this chapter, hopefully you still like it because I don't think it was as exciting as the other two thus far, but I felt it was crucial and it was nice to finally have a moment for these two to really talk about things while progressing the story.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Hello, so here is chapter 4. I was going to post it yesterday, but I ended up doing homework (yay). I unfortunately don't have much to say up here except that I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for all the support again. I know I've said that pretty much every chapter, but seriously it means a lot and keeps me way beyond motivated to keep going.

* * *

Chloe's eyes opened as the back of Max's head came into view. She had no idea what time it was, but she knew it was day by the way the light was pouring into the room at the edge of the blanket in the window. She lifted her head slightly to try and see Max better and she could see she was still sleeping. Her expression was a lot softer this time around though, it appeared she had slept much better tonight, which Chloe was very happy about.

That said, she had slept quite well herself she thought as she laid back down and breathed the cool air that now filled the room. She had made a good assumption that it would get cold at night, but under the blankets it was nice and toasty.

A morning like this would have been perfect a few days ago. Especially since Max and her and finally talked about what they were. Chloe smiled at the thought that Max was her girlfriend. She had wondered what it would be like before but never said anything. She knew Max would make fun of her for not being the tough punk rocker that she always portrayed.

"I love you, Max," Chloe whispered before placing a small kiss on the back of Max's neck.

"I love you too, Chloe."

Chloe pulled back a little surprised as Max turned onto her other side so she was facing Chloe.

"You were awake?"

"You woke me up moving around," Max said as Chloe frowned a little.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Chloe said as she laid her head back down. "If you're tired you should go back to sleep."

Max shook her head, "I'll be fine, I don't feel that tired right now. . . Besides without electricity we really need the sunlight."

"True, but we can't look if you are about to fall asleep and I don't want you getting sick."

Max smiled, "I'll be fine, Chloe, I promise.

"Alright," Chloe said caving in. Max didn't say it, but it made her very happy that Chloe worried about her like that. It made her think of the confession the night before.

"So what's the plan for today?"

Chloe thought for a moment before sighing, "I don't know, maybe looking for others. I'm sure there has to be a search and rescue effort going on by now."

"Should we go there first or keep looking for your mom?" Max asked as Chloe thought for a moment.

"I think we should find them first," Chloe said as that look of worry crossed her face again.

She was surprised when she felt Max close the gap between them and kiss her.

"Everything will be fine."

Chloe smiled before glancing up to the window, "you're right, but we should probably get going."

"Let's check around the campus first, there could be someone else here," Max suggested as she sat up from the bed and shivered a little. "Good thing we got those blankets it's freezing in here."

"Let's take that blanket off the window and let the sun warm it up. If we can't find them we'll stay here tonight again," Chloe said as Max agreed with a nod.

"How is your phones battery?" Max asked curiously as she checked her own phone. "Mine is full."

"I got about eighty percent, I guess Victoria's computer died during the night."

"Do you have any missed calls?" Max asked as Chloe turned her phone on and frowned.

"It doesn't look like it. The storm could have screwed something up though."

Max nodded before checking her own phone which also had nothing.

"We should check the dorms to see if anyone is here," Max said as she made her way to the door with Chloe following. "I'll lock the door so no one can get in here that way we don't need to worry about someone taking the blankets."

"Good idea, I'll start checking the rooms," Chloe said as she walked down the hall and started opening doors. Max joined her shortly after by checking the other side of the hallway.

"Anything?" Chloe asked as Max shook her head after opening the last door.

"It looks like everyone just left without taking anything."

"Why don't we head into town and see if we can see anything?"

Max nodded, "hopefully we see someone today. This place is starting to feel like a ghost town," she said as they left the dorms and walked to Chloe's truck.

"Nobody has taken any of the food, so I don't think anyone knows we're here," Chloe said as she climbed in and turned the truck on. "First things first, let's crank the heat."

"Please do," Max said as she breathed into her cupped hands.

"Let's head back to my house and see if anyone has been there," Chloe said as put the truck in drive. The whole way there they saw more or less what they did yesterday, disaster without any trace of people.

"You're sure I made the right decision?" Max asked as Chloe looked over to her and nodded.

"I don't have a doubt in my mind Max."

Max smiled a little from the words as they drove towards Chloe's house. Seeing the destruction up close like this again was bothering Max. Chloe knew it was and she felt horrible that she couldn't help with it. Without saying it she so desperately wanted everything to be back to the way it was. Dealing with David like she did was something she wished could happen now.

The thought left her mind when she pulled up to the house and saw her sign still laying in the yard. She could see from the truck that no one and written anything on it. The house didn't look any different either though it would be hard to tell if anything was moved really.

"Fuck," Chloe said as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Max just remained silent as she put her own head down and tried to think of anywhere else they could have been. The realization that Joyce's body may be in that rubble still was something that didn't sit well with her and brought a tear to her eye. She didn't want Chloe to see this though because she knew Chloe was feeling bad enough about the situation they were in.

"Where else could she have gone?" Max asked as Chloe looked to her and thought for a moment.

"I have no idea, Max. . . I really have no idea."

"Hey who is that?" Max asked as Chloe lifted her head and looked down the street where a person was climbing out of a truck.

"Let's go find out," Chloe said as she quickly drove over to them and stopped the truck.

They didn't recognize the man, but he had a special vest on with some logo on the back of it. Max rolled her window down when the man turned to talk to them.

"Are you from this town?" The man asked as Chloe and Max nodded. "I'm with the storm relief effort, we set up a camp for everyone just on the outskirts of town. Do you have anyone that is need of medical help with you?"

"No, it's just us," Max answered as the man sighed.

"How many people are at this camp?" Chloe asked as he looked to her and shrugged. "We have quite a few, but not a towns worth that is for sure."

"How do we get there?"

"One sec, I'll get the map and show you," he replied as she went to his truck and approached the driver side of their truck with the map. He showed Chloe where they were right now and showed her a clear path to the camp they had setup.

"Thanks, I'll head there now," Chloe said as she waited for the guy to step back so she could drive off.

"I wonder how many people are still in this town right now, dead or alive?"

"I would rather not know," Chloe said as she looked to Max. "I definitely don't want you to know either. I know this is going to be hard seeing how many people are not here. We cannot let anyone else know about what happened though, deal?"

"I wish I didn't know," Max said as she felt Chloe's hand on her shoulder.

* * *

 **Twenty minutes later. . .**

Chloe glanced to Max who had that grim expression on her face again as they drove down the road towards where the camp was supposed to be. She knew Max was worried about what they would or wouldn't find there and to be honest she was worried too. If her mom wasn't there, then there was a good chance she could be dead. It was a thought that had been on Chloe's mind ever since they had talked to the guy who told them where it was.

"Hanging in there?" Chloe asked as Max looked over to her and took a deep breath.

"Not really," Max admitted as Chloe pulled the truck over and took a deep breath herself.

"Listen, Max. I am hella nervous about going here. If my mom isn't here then… I don't even want to think about it."

"I'm sorry," Max said as Chloe scooted closer to her and put an arm around her. "This is all my fault."

"Hey, come on don't do that," Chloe said as she felt her own tears coming at the thought of her mother not being at the camp. "You were doing so well."

"Chloe this is all my fault, you heard what that guy said, there isn't a towns worth of people there. How many people that we knew did I kill?"

"Max, stop!" Chloe said as Max finally looked to her and saw the tears in her eyes. "You can't think like this, Max. It won't solve anything and you're killing me, Max. Seeing you like this just destroys me inside."

"Chloe?" Max asked as Chloe put her head down on Max's shoulder and cried hard.

"I know how terrible you feel, I know there is nothing I can do to change that and that makes me feel terrible. I love you, Max and even if this storm killed my mom, I will still love you. If you had gone back and let me die then she would be in the same pain I will be so there is no winning. It's bullshit."

Max swallowed as she put an arm around Chloe and let her cry for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Chloe. I'm such an idiot," Max said as Chloe lifted her head from Max's shoulder. "I had no idea how much I was hurting you."

"You're not an idiot," Chloe said as Max looked to her. "We're both destroyed by this, but we will get through this, together. Just remember, I am never leaving you, Max. We said it the day the tornado came. We will be together forever," she said as Max looked at her and took a deep breath before nodding to try and calm herself.

"Chloe I wish I was as strong as you are."

Chloe smiled, "Max, you've said that so many times. . . The truth is I'm not strong, Max. The only reason I am able to keep as calm as I am is because you are here with me. You are holding me up if you know it or not."

. . .

"Fuck this week," Max said a moment later as Chloe smiled.

"At least we know we'll never have one as bad as this again."

". . .I think I'm ready to face what's up ahead."

Chloe turned Max's head towards her before giving her a long kiss.

"No matter what happens, I'll still always be with you. Just remember that."

"I will," Max said as Chloe moved back to her spot and put the truck in drive again. She couldn't help but glance to Max for a moment as she drove. What she said did seem to help, but she knew even now that it was only temporary. Getting out of this town might be the way to keep her sane.

Thoughts like this were the only thing keeping Chloe distracted from what was up ahead, that was until it came into sight. A flashback of the diner and her home came to mind followed by the last time she saw her mother. She took a deep breath as she pulled up to the camp and turned the truck off.

"Whenever you're ready," Max said as she put a hand on Chloe's shoulder to comfort her a little.

"I don't think I ever will be, let's get this over with. And, Max, if this doesn't go well please don't rewind."

"Chloe, I don't think I'll be rewinding very much from now on."

"Let's go then," Chloe said as she hopped out of the truck and went around to Max's hand before heading into the camp.

There were tents set up all over the place, some with medical signs on them, but even then there seemed to be injured people all over the place. Some Chloe recognized and some she didn't. The atmosphere was dreary at best, but volunteer workers seemed to be rushing all over trying their hardest to salvage what they could.

Chloe glanced to Max whose grip on her hand tightened at the sight of the injured people. She reacted by stepping in front of Max and kissing her again. She could feel Max's tears hit her lips as they kissed. She didn't need to see this, in fact this was probably the worst thing she could see right now. Chloe wished she had thought about this more before walking Max through the camp.

"Chloe?" A voice called out as the kiss broke and both girls looked to their right.

"M-Mom?" Chloe asked as she felt tears herself in her eyes. "You're alive, mom."

"David, come quick, it's Chloe and Max," Joyce said as she kissed Chloe's forehead before outstretching and arm for Max to come to. "I was so worried about you two."

"Chloe," David said as he put a hand up to his eyes and took a deep breath. He wasn't the type to typically try and hug Chloe, but that didn't stop him from choking up. "Oh thank god, you're alright."

Chloe smiled, she had never been so happy to see David in her life, "I'm glad you're alright too, but how did you make it through the storm?"

"David rescued us from the diner and brought us to that underground bunker your old teacher used. All they did was close it off for investigation, so we kind of broke in."

"The keypad was disabled awhile back so there would be no problems, they just taped the place off. I'm sure they won't mind considering," David explained as Chloe nodded.

"How did you two survive?" Joyce asked as Chloe turned to Max and smiled.

"She saved my life," Chloe said feeling those tears again. "She went through hell to make sure I lived and I did," she explained as a tear ran down her cheek.

Max felt her own tears, but these weren't because of the victims. This was the raw emotion Chloe was showing to her. "You would have done the same for me."

"In a heartbeat," Chloe said as she went and hugged Max again.

Joyce smiled as she joined the two and this time kissed, Max on the forehead. "I always knew you were good for Chloe and I'm forever in your debt, Max."

Max smiled, "just make me breakfast every once in a while and I'll call us even."

Joyce laughed, "I think I can manage that, but first we'll have to get back to the house."

Chloe sighed as she looked to Max and then back to her mom. "Mom. . . The house isn't there anymore. We went to the diner and then to the house looking for you yesterday and… It's gone."

Joyce put a hand over her mouth as Max nodded.

"Where did you two stay then?" David asked as Chloe looked to him.

"Blackwell is still standing, so we spent the night at Max's dorm room. We looked around the dorms before we left, but we didn't see anyone there."

"Well, I'm just glad you're alright. Why don't you two join us in the tent for now? We'll get you something warm to eat."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alrighty, so here is the end of chapter 4. There are still questions unanswered and to be honest I don't know how I am going to do them yet. So far in my head I have 2 possible options. This story is shorter and I make it a 2 part or this story becomes much longer and it loses it's focus of being my recreation of the ending. Then again I did say it was a continuation of sorts. I think I know what I'll do (Yay for thinking while typing). Anyways this chapter addressed something that bothers me quite a bit and that is the fact that there is a search and rescue team now.

The reason there is one is because there would be. A natural disaster happens and it seems like the entire world jumps on it, which is a good thing. The fact that they weren't there day 1 though, it seems odd to me. So having them there 2 days later only seemed right.

The reason this bothers me to no end is because I was having a lot of fun putting Max and Chloe into a survival type situation while exploring their relationship. They were completely reliant on each other and I love exposing that side of the realtionships I write about. I dont' want to write a zombie story or anything like that where they are really alone, but it was fun giving them a situation like they were in and to be honest I am sad that it's over. I've thought about ways to keep them going back to Max's dorm, but I don't know if they will make it into the story.

The good news is that they found Joyce and David. I really hope the dark room situation made sense. Jumped around so many times in episode 5 I had to really sit and think about if they would know it was there and how they would get in and if jefferson had been busted earlier than the day of. I think I got it straight though, if not I'm sure someone will tell me and i can fix it quick.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Hey! So sorry this one took a little bit longer but to be completely honest, it's been a very long time since I've posted chapters this quick. I am going to keep trying for that, but honestly it depends if I can think about this fast enough because I'm still shaping my idea of what happened in my head. I've talked with a few of you through PM's now and I try and explain myself as best as possible so hopefully it's working! Anyways here is chapter 5, I hope you like it and thank you for everything again. I will say this every chapter, but really it's incredible to see it, thank you.

* * *

Joyce watched carefully as Chloe smiled warmly at Max. She hadn't seen a look like that on her daughters face in god knows how long. She looked calmer than normal like she wasn't as stressed. She didn't seem mad at the world right now which was odd considering the situation they were in. Joyce could only imagine Max was part of that reason, especially after catching them kissing outside.

She had decided to let it go then, it just wasn't the right time to discuss it. Now that the girls had been fed and had a little time to warm up she felt like it was time to mention it. She would wait for David to leave though, he had volunteered to help look for survivors. It was the perfect opportunity to have Max and Chloe alone.

"So how have you two been holding up?"

"As well as you can for what just happened," Chloe replied with a glance towards Max.

"No one saw a tornado like that coming, it's just a shame we didn't have more warning," Joyce said as Chloe put and arm around Max and nodded. She was getting ready for it, especially when she saw that look on Max's face again. It said everything that needed to be said about where her emotional state was right now.

"Yea," Chloe replied before glancing down at the food she had. "Thanks for the food, mom. It was really great."

Joyce looked at Max weird for a moment, usually Max would be the one thanking her for breakfast.

"You doing alright, Max?"

Max glanced to Joyce quick before nodding, "I'm fine, I think."

"You just let me know if you need anything, I understand these are stressful times. Speaking of which, I wanted to wait until David was gone before bringing this up."

Chloe raised an eyebrow as she looked at her mother who took a deep breath.

"I saw you two kissing," Joyce said bluntly as both girls remained silent. "Is that why you two have been inseparable lately?"

Chloe swallowed the lump in her throat before nodding, she had never done this before. "Uhh, yea," Chloe said scratching the back of her neck. "I mean last night we. . ."

Chloe looked to Max for a moment before facing her mother again. "Last night we made it official. Max is my girlfriend."

Chloe immediately looked to the ground which was weird for her because she didn't think she would be afraid to tell her mom. Then again this was the first time she had ever told her mom she was in a relationship. She had been in a relationship before, but Chloe quickly realized she wasn't happy and left. Max was the first person she knew she was serious about.

Joyce shook her head as she thought for a moment. "I remember when you two were just kids running around the house. I always wondered if you two would remain friends, but I suppose this answers that question doesn't it… Well either way, I'm happy for you. I wanted you to get closer to Max anyways, she is a good influence on you and from the sounds of it your personal hero."

Chloe smiled as she turned back to Max, "she is amazing."

Max couldn't not smile from this as she tried to hide her face in the blanket which caused Joyce to laugh.

"Well I'm glad for you two, it's great to hear that something positive came out of this whole ordeal."

"I am too," Max said with a glanced towards Chloe. "I really don't know what I would be doing right now if I hadn't found you."

Chloe turned her head away from her mom for a second as she wiped her eye. "I love you, Max."

Joyce nodded, "Max, thank you for saving Chloe. I don't know what you did, but really, thank you. I don't think I could go on living if I lost my husband and my daughter."

"Something tells me I wouldn't do much better if I lost, Chloe," Max said as she leaned her head against Chloe who just blushed a little. She didn't want Max to see that though so she looked the other way.

Joyce just simply chuckled at her daughter's response before checking the time. "You two should go look around camp and see if there is anyone you know. That boy that was with us at the diner is here somewhere. He mentioned you, Max."

"Warren?" Chloe asked as Max nodded.

"He was at the diner with Joyce and Frank."

Joyce raised an eyebrow, "wait how did you know he was with. . .?"

"H-He told me he was going there before the tornado hit," Max said quickly as she glanced to Chloe who just nodded.

"Yea and we… We found Frank," Chloe said as Joyce sighed a little.

"I'm sorry you two had to see that, we didn't have any time to gather anything. We had to run to get out of there."

Chloe sighed as she stood to her feet, "it's fine. . . This whole week has just been shitty."

"I'm going to let that one slide because there is no truer word for the situation," Joyce said as Chloe smiled a little before reaching out to Max and help her up.

"Let's go see if we can find anyone from Blackwell," Chloe said as Max followed her out the tent before hugging her from behind tightly.

Chloe just remained still for a moment as Max sniffled, "I had a feeling this was coming."

"I'm sorry," Max apologized as she held her tighter for a moment.

"You did hella awesome in there, Max. I tried to change the subject as fast as I could."

Max sniffled again, "you did fine, Chloe. This isn't your fault."

Chloe sighed as she glanced back to the tent her mom was in, they were still pretty close to it. "This isn't the place to talk about it."

Max glanced over to the tent realizing how close they were before nodding, "you're right," she agreed before looking around the camp. "Chloe, I know I've been nothing but an emotional train wreck, but I don't want to stay here tonight."

"I don't blame you, this place is," Chloe shook her head, "it's not good."

"Max?" A voice called out as both Chloe and Max looked over to the sound and saw Warren coming towards them. "It is you!"

"Warren, you're alive," Max said as she let go of Chloe and smiled. "Is there anyone else here?"

"Yea there is a few of us here that I know of, but they're still looking," Warren said as he glanced to Chloe for second. "I'm glad you two made it, I was worried when you weren't here yesterday."

"We were fine," Chloe said bluntly as she looked away from Warren, she had no idea where that came from. Both Max and Warren sensed almost a hostility from her words as Warren nodded a little.

"Yea, I'm glad," he said as he glanced back to the tent he was staying in. "We're all staying here, but most of the people are out in the town right now looking for more survivors. I'm helping around at the medical tent, mostly just getting supplies for the doctors and nurses. Speaking of which, I should probably get back, but I'm sure I'll see you around later. It's a relief knowing you two made it."

"Same to you, Warren," Max said as they watched him walk off. "You alright?" Max asked as Chloe took a deep breath and shook her head.

"I don't know what came over me. I just. . ." Chloe sighed, "I think I'm maybe just a little… I don't know."

Max raised an eyebrow as Chloe sighed again trying to articulate her feelings. "Do you think we could get out of here for a little bit?"

Chloe glanced to Max quick before nodding, "yea, it may be for the best. I don't really want you seeing this stuff anyways, not right now. "Let me tell my mom I'm leaving quick."

Max just nodded as she saw Chloe disappear into the tent quick. She couldn't help but glance around the camp for a moment. Guilt was the only thing she could feel as she watched nurses walk in and out of the tent setup for medical attention.

She wiped her eyes just as Chloe place a hand on her shoulder noticing what she was looking at.

"Come on, Max, we don't need to see this right now, especially you," Chloe said as she led Max back to the truck.

"Chloe, I don't really want to stay here tonight," Max said when Chloe climbed in her side of the truck.

Chloe paused for a moment before starting the truck and putting it into reverse to get back on the road.

"Then we won't stay here, we'll go to Blackwell again. I don't really want to be here either," Chloe admitted as she started down the road.

"Chloe, I'm sorry I'm so emotional right now," Max said as Chloe shook her head.

"Trust me, Max, I'm freaking out too, I think Warren got it out of me a little back there. . . I hate it, but I think I was jealous."

"Jealous?"

Chloe sighed as she looked out her window, "Max, I want you all to myself."

Max blinked once or twice as she looked at Chloe who wasn't looking at her. Chloe only looked back when she felt a kiss on her cheek which only made her face more red.

"Geez, Caulfield you don't need to get all mushy."

Max laughed as she pushed Chloe's shoulder with her hand, "says the one with a red face."

Chloe just rolled her eyes, she glanced back out the window. She was honestly just happy to hear Max laugh at a time like this even if she was embarrassed.

"Thank you for telling me that," Max said as she looked out the window. "It makes me really happy," she continued with a small blush herself which made Chloe smile.

"Good, you deserve to be happy after this last week, no matter what happened. Now where do you want to go?"

Max thought for a moment before sighing, "I know it might sound cheesy, but I wouldn't mind going back to my dorm room and being with you for the rest of the day."

"Way less cheesy than telling you I want you all to myself," Chloe sighed as Max smiled again, Chloe was doing her job as best she could right now. Max's mood seemed to be improving from it, which was good, but that would quickly go away as they entered town again and slowly made their way towards the school.

"We should stop by that store again and get some more candles or something for light," Chloe said as Max nodded, the night before they had light, but more would have been nice.

"Hopefully the power comes back on soon."

"It will be nice having the heat back, but last night wasn't so bad cuddling with you," Chloe mentioned as Max looked over to her surprised.

"Y-You liked that?" Max asked as Chloe looked at her a little oddly.

"Why wouldn't I? You are my girlfriend and it was hella awesome," Chloe said as Max blushed a little at the thought. "I'm not moving too fast for you am I, Max? I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"No," Max said shaking her head, "I'm not uncomfortable. I am just surprised to hear you say these things. I mean I know you like them, but to hear you say them is a little different."

"Well between me and you, you're the only one I would tell. I've taken a lot of things for granted Max, but this past week being with you has really made me think. You saved me tons this week and I love you. I don't want you to ever think I don't."

"I love you too," Max smiled as she rested her head against the window. "You should probably slowdown that store is coming up."

"Good call, I honestly kind of forgot will this talk about us," Chloe said as she pulled over to the curb and stopped the truck. "It should still be light enough to see in there. We should probably get to Blackwell and setup though after this, we'll only have an hour or two before it starts getting dark, it's already going on four."

Max nodded as she climbed out of the truck while Chloe did the same on her side. "I think I'm going to take a picture of this. Stand right there, Chloe."

Chloe looked at her for a moment as she went back into the truck and pulled her camera out of the bag she always had with her.

"Just a little more to the right," Max said as Chloe climbed on top of some rubble and looked at her just as the camera flashed.

Max smiled at the picture in hand before putting in her bag, "that one turned out good. It's too bad, I couldn't enter that one into the contest."

"I still liked that one you had," Chloe said as Max joined her in the store. "I think you would have won with it easy, but I'm probably biased."

"Probably just a little," Max said as Chloe smiled at her for a moment before stopping.

"This place has to have candles, it's like a home decoration store isn't it?"

"I think so, I've never been in here before," Max said as Chloe sighed and looked down a wall of items.

"Wait, I think I might see some," she said before heading down the hall. "Hell yes, there is tons of them."

"Is this stealing? I mean I know we already took the blankets, but we kind of needed them to make it through the night."

Chloe thought for a moment, "I won't make it through the night if I can't see you."

Max frowned a little at the thought of Chloe dying.

"S-sorry, I guess that wasn't a good thing to say, but you get my point."

Max sighed, "I'll turn a blind eye to this for now, let's just grab a bunch and head back to the truck."

"Hell yes, I love you, Max," Chloe said before giving her a big kiss and turning around to grab the candles. "Here take some of these, I'll grab as many as I can," she said as she handed Max a bunch of candles before carrying a bunch in shirt which she was using as a bag of sorts.

"Alright, let's head back to Blackwell."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright, so I know this chapter wasn't very eventful. I mean I guess it was with Joyce talking about their relationship and such, but you get my point nothing ground breaking happened. We essentially just see Chloe finally opening up a little about her relationship with Max. I feel like the way they kind of agreed to be girlfriends was a little... not clear enough? (who needs English really?) Chloe might seem out of character here and realistically I don't exactly try to be perfect on their characters. Chloe kind of makes mention that she isn't doing so well and well... I don't want to spoil anything.

I have an explanation for what I'm talking about but really that is what hte next chapter is for. Right now Chloe is really just trying to open up to Max in my opinion. Like she pointed out she has taken things for granted and I think this decision would put her in a spot to really think about life. Max is at the center of her life right now and the way Chloe is, I think she will want Max to know that.

So realistically this chapter didn't have much going on, but it did serve me well to kind of setup whats coming. Oh and before I forget, I really should have added this at the beginning of the story but better late than never.

I should mention some key decisions in my game so this story makes sense because I am basing this story off the events of my own playthrough.

-Unfortunately when Max took the candles from Kates room it was because she is dead. I have no idea if they put candles out if she lives. (Life shattering moment #... This game has too many to count)

-Warren was turned down so hard in my game I don't think Max would actually notice if he was gone. . . Pricefield4life?

I think those are the two big ones that I wanted to clarify. The last thing I wanted to talk about is actually from a review. I was given some questions and wanted to answer but guests you need to make accounts! I send PM's to reviews all the time if I feel like I can answer a question or just give you a heads up! No one likes waiting for the next chapter and I check Fan Fiction and my email literally 50 times a day.

1\. Assuming that Victoria is among the people who survive the storm in this story, does she know that Nathan was killed by Jefferson?

Answer: Victoria has not been forgotten in this story. I will deal with her eventually.

2\. Considering that Kate and Taylor's mom were in the hospital... were they evacuated in time?

Answer: Kate died in my game so I can't really say much to this.

3\. Should Max tell everyone the truth about her week-long adventure...? Does everyone deserve the right to know what happened?

Answer: I am keeping this between Chloe and Max. I have tossed the idea around of them telling people, but if that were to happen I don't personally believe right now would be the best time considering.

4\. If Jefferson was put in jail the night before the storm, did the storm claim him or did he somehow escape and is planning his revenge...?

Answer: I didn't actually consider this, thank you for bringing it up. I am formulating an answer to this.

5\. Should Max be the one to tell Nathan's older sister, Kristine, about Nathan's fate?

Answer: Personally, I don't believe so. In game for me at least, I only saw one time where Max saw anything about Nathan's sister. I don't believe Max owes Nathan anything and I don't think she knows his sister well enough (or at all) to let her know about his fate. Again I could be wrong here, but this is going off my playthrough and what I got from it.

Hopefully that answered your questions and I really hope you see them. Typcially I don't answer questions like this I much prefer to PM you with my thoughts, but this was from a guest and I wanted to make sure you knew I saw it. Anyways, thank you for all the reviews, pm's, favorite's, follows, etc etc.. I'll see you in the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** These chapters just keep getting longer. That is alright though, I just generally stay around 2k words a chapter because I think it's easier for me to put them out quicker and I tend to have a problem of losing my point if I make them too long. I can explain that in a PM if your interested in what I'm talking about, it's too long for here. Anyways, I hope you like some fluffly stuff, because I absolutely love it.

* * *

Chloe turned the truck off as she looked towards the doors to the dormitory. Nothing had seemed to change from earlier that morning, she wasn't sure anyone had been here yet. She kind of hoped for Max's sake and her own that they were alone.

She imagined if a search and rescue person had found her they would want them to go to the camp. Then again seeing as though Max lived here they could probably talk their way into staying.

"It's weird seeing this place so empty," Max said breaking the silence as Chloe glanced to her and nodded.

"We should go check out the main building, there could be someone there. Let's put that food in your room first though and check on things quick."

"I'll grab a few cans," Max said as she climbed out of the truck and picked up two cans of food and started bringing them towards the dorms with Chloe opening the door for her.

"It doesn't look like anyone has been here," Chloe mentioned as the two walked down the dark hallway. The window at the end of the hall didn't do much for lighting, but it was definitely easy enough to see during the day.

Max handed Chloe the cans of food before grabbing her key from her pocket and opening her bedroom door. "Everything looks fine," Max said as they stepped inside and set the cans down on her desk.

"At least it's not super cold during the day, it warmed up a bit in here since this morning," Chloe said as Max looked to her.

"I figured you would like it colder honestly."

"Colder?" Chloe asked before realizing what Max was getting at. "I don't care what temperature it is, I will always cuddle with you."

Max smiled as she looked away and went to her laptop to check the battery. "We can charge our phones a bit tonight, but I think we are going to need to grab another laptop from someone. We should label them though so we can return them when this is all over."

She raised an eyebrow when Chloe didn't say anything in response. "Did you hea—"

Max stumbled back until she was leaning again her desk, her lips locked with Chloe's in a firm kiss as Chloe wrapped her arms around her. Once the initial shock had passed Max kissed back turning her head slightly so it was easier. The kiss would only break when she felt tears against her lips.

"Chloe?" Max breathed as Chloe stepped away and wiped one of her eyes, she was trying hard not to show that she was crying.

She put a hand up when that failed though and sniffled, "I'm sorry, Max. I guess this all just kind of catching up with me now. . . You saved me," Chloe said as another wave of emotion caught hold of her. "I've been trying to hold it in for you, but I just can't anymore," she continued as she sat on the bed and looked over towards Max. "I just feel like I maybe shouldn't be here, like you I'm hurting you by being here because it means you have to deal with all of this."

"That's not true, Chloe," Max said as she joined Chloe on the bed and pulled her close as she cried. "This is a bad situation, it really is, but we've talked about this," Max continued feeling a little emotional herself. "There was no guarantee that it would have saved the town and. . . Chloe I still choose you, I don't even know how I could live if you weren't here. I love you, Chloe Price, I love you so much that the thought of never seeing you again hurts more than what happened to this town," she explained before lifting Chloe's face and giving her another kiss.

"You are seriously the best thing that has ever happened to me and you are the _only_ thing holding me together right now," Max said as Chloe looked into her eyes for a moment before kissing her again. It was different from the others, it felt meaningful, it stirred feeling in Max that she hadn't felt before and before she knew it, she had grabbed Chloe's beanie and tossed it aside while pushing her back onto the bed and climbing over her.

"I need you more than anyone, I love you, Chloe," Max said followed by another kiss as she felt Chloe's hands on her back. The length of each kiss only seemed to get longer and longer as this foreign feeling in Max grew. These weren't just the simple kisses Chloe had been giving her, they were more intense and love filled than any of the other kisses combined.

"I'll never leave you," Chloe said between kisses as Max looked at her in a haze before closing her eyes and kissing her again. Chloe's hands running up the back of her shirt only making her breathing heavier as she experienced new feelings.

"This is amazing," Max breathed as Chloe rolled Max over and sat over top of her now.

"This is only just the beginning," Chloe said with another quick kiss. "And, Max. . . Thank you."

* * *

 **A few hours later. . .**

Max's eyes opened slowly as she felt her breath against the blanket. She breathed easy at the memory of making out with Chloe in this very spot not too long ago. In fact she never remembered stopping, but she hadn't felt so good since the tornado. She was calm and relaxed and when she rolled onto her side she realized Chloe wasn't lying next to her.

Max lifted her head and immediately noticed the room was now lit by the candles that they had brought in earlier.

"Hey, you're awake," Chloe said turning in Max's computer chair. "Did you sleep good?"

"Did I fall asleep while we were?"

"Yea, but it's no big deal," Chloe said waving her hand at Max.

"Wowzers, I feel so lame. I fell asleep making out with my girlfriend and it was my first time," Max groaned laying back down and covering her face.

Chloe laughed a little as she got up from the chair and went over to the bed to lay down next to Max. Max turned her head so she was looking at Chloe once she was lying next to her.

"For your first time, you did awesome," Chloe said as Max smiled a little.

"How many times have you done it?" Max asked as Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Pff, like. . ." Chloe sighed, "You're the first person I've made out with."

"The first?"

Chloe took a deep breath, "You're the first, Max. I've kissed other people before, but nothing crazy. I've never even French kissed anyone, well I mean until earlier."

"Wow, so much for my idea that you were the hottest thing in Arcadia Bay," Max said as Chloe frowned at her.

"You're one to talk, you fell asleep while making out with me and for your information, I am the hottest thing in Arcadia Bay."

Max chuckled, "I guess I can agree with both of those claims. . . How are you feeling?"

Chloe thought a moment as she looked up at the ceiling, "Like I just made out with girlfriend and it was hella awesome even if she did fall asleep. Even now though you look exhausted. I can't imagine you're sleeping that well right now."

"I'm not," Max agreed as she looked to Chloe. "I'm sorry about falling asleep though, I feel really lame about that."

"Don't be, I'm just happy you could actually get some sleep. Maybe I'll just have to kiss you a bunch before bed now if it helps."

"I don't think that will work, I've never felt that way before. I don't know what came over me," Max said as Chloe looked at her.

"What did it feel like?" She asked curiously as Max thought for a moment before sighing.

"Love. I think it felt like love."

Chloe smiled at this before taking a deep breath and looking at the ceiling again. "To be honest Max, I'm feeling a lot better now. I know you said I'm holding you together, but the truth is you're holding me together too. Being with you like that really makes me feel… different, like nothing else in the world matters except I'm with you or something like that."

Chloe shook her head, "sorry, I'm still not very good with the mushy stuff."

"You're a lot better than you think," Max said with a big smile as Chloe's cheeks flushed red before she sat up.

"Let's make something to eat."

Max could only chuckle to herself, being with Chloe like this was one of the best moments of her life even if they were living in their own personal hell at the time.

"What time is it by the way?" Max asked as Chloe glanced up to her laptop.

"It's about eight," Chloe said as Max sighed.

"I guess that means it's too dark to go search the campus."

"It's pretty dark and I think we should save our cellphone batteries, I bet that flashlight eats through them quick."

"That's alright, I'm cozy and warm right now anyways," Max yawned as Chloe opened some of the food they had.

"Well now you are cozy, warm, fed, and have an awesome girlfriend joining you," Chloe said as she crawled over Max getting under the covers. "It is warm in here," Chloe mentioned as she shivered a little, the room had cooled down quite a bit since the sun went down.

"I feel like I've said this a hundred times today, but seriously, Chloe, I love you."

"I love you too, max and you did say that about a hundred times when we made out and I loved it every time. . . You should eat though, it will help you fall asleep and honestly we both need it right now. I'm actually pretty tired from all that anyways."

* * *

 **The next morning. . .**

Max's eyes opened slowly as a familiar sound filled the room. She didn't think much of it when she noticing Chloe's sleeping face just inches from her own. It seemed she wasn't lying when she said she was tired the night before.

Max just smiled at Chloe's peaceful expression, she hoped it was because Joyce and David were alive and well. She herself had felt way better after seeing Joyce. She realized now that a part of the reason she felt so terrible was the idea that she had hurt Chloe beyond repair by losing her mother and father.

Max sighed a little bit.

She couldn't blame William's death on herself, she knew it wasn't right, but still felt guilty that she couldn't do anything. Then again who knows how things would have turned out if William had lived and Chloe hadn't gotten into an accident. She frowned at the idea of not being able to lay in bed like this with her girlfriend. She imagined they probably wouldn't even be together in that timeline.

"I guess this is really it," Max sighed as she thought about the town for a moment. There wasn't anything she could change and after everything that had happened, she wasn't sure she wanted it to. Chloe's mom was alive, they were together and she realized now that there were survivors. How many, she couldn't be sure, but the fact that not everyone died did make it a little easier to cope with the decision.

"What's really it?" Chloe asked surprising Max who hadn't noticed her eyes open. "Are you still stressing on that decision?"

Max sighed a little bit, it seemed Chloe was getting better at reading her.

"I was just thinking how horrible it is that I don't feel as bad now that I know the people I know are alive," Max admitted as Chloe remained silent. "It just doesn't seem right."

"It wasn't right that you had to make the decision and I know what you are saying. This happens all the time though Max, there is shootings every day in this country and no one remembers their names. You're not a monster, you're human."

"Thank you," Max said before giving Chloe a quick morning kiss. "You really are making this easier for me," she continued before remembering her bag on the floor near her. "In fact, I think this may deserve a picture."

Max lifted the camera above them and smiled just as Chloe pressed her lips against the corner of Max's mouth with her eyes closed.

"That's a good one," Max said as she showed Chloe the picture.

"This just goes to show that there is good even when everything seems bad."

"I want to date this one," Max said as she climbed out of bed and went to her desk before noticing something. "Wait, it's warm in here," Max said they both noticed that familiar noise again. "The heat is on."

"It is?" Chloe asked as she removed the blanket and checked the vent. "Does that mean the power is back on?"

Max hit the light switch in her room, both of their faces lit up as the light above came to life.

"Hella yes!"

"Maybe we can have more than one warm meal today," Max said as she looked to her Chloe.

"Even if we don't at least we will be really warm tonight," Chloe replied as she stood to her feet and grabbed her cellphone from Max's desk. "Hmm, still no missed calls so we should probably go back to the camp today and tell my mom where I'm staying. She is probably freaking."

"Can I take a shower first before we do that?"

"Yea, I'm in no rush to leave today. This place is starting to feel like home."

Max smiled as she grabbed her shower supplies, "I'll go take mine then you can take one if you want."

"Hella yes, a shower sounds awesome. I just wish I had some fresh clothes."

"You can try some of mine on, I got some baggy stuff on me that might be tall enough for you," Max mentioned as she glanced towards her closet.

"I'll check it out," Chloe said as Max opened the door to leave.

"Chloe," Max said as Chloe looked over towards her. "We're not alone anymore," she said as Chloe walked over to the door and saw people in the hallway of the dormitory.

"Max?" A voice called as Chloe and Max looked across the hall at none other than Victoria Chase. "Oh my god you two made it."

Max raised an eyebrow, since when did Victoria ever care about her?

"Yea. . . Where did all these people come from?" Max asked ignoring the fact that Victoria was apparently happy to see her. She had a very odd relationship with her, sometimes Victoria seemed genuine and other times she seemed to only care if it was for her own gain. This wasn't one of those times, but Max was sick of her games.

"We came from the camp setup outside town. When they got the power working again overnight they setup the school as a shelter spot because it's still standing and it has heat. Last night was horrible at that camp, we only got one blanket."

"What about our rooms?"

"We don't have to worry about that. They had to get permission from the school to even use the grounds and they assured us that our individual rooms were off limits. I'm glad personally, I've got too many nice things in my room that could be destroyed."

"Where is everyone staying then?"

"They are using the classrooms and the main building as a living area right now. You should go check it out, they are trying to get an idea of how many people are here."

"We'll do that. Thanks, Victoria," Max said as Victoria walked back into her room.

"Do you think she has noticed that her laptop is gone?" Chloe asked as Max sighed.

"We'll have to sneak that back into her room later. After our showers let's go find your mom, it sounds like we'll be staying here for a while."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright, so I have some things to talk about here because I haven't really done a scene like beginning of this chapter for life is strange yet. I want to explain my thoughts on why I do them the way I do for new readers so you know what to expect from me.

1\. I would love to be able to make a good love scene, but I don't think I can.

2\. I generally don't like to go into detail beyond what I did there. I'm over 18 and I've read some stuff on this website that me feel like I need an adult. I love giving you an idea of what is happening leaving it to your imagination. That being said sometimes I do go through with it and make a more detailed scene(rare).

That is why I wrote the scene the way I do and those are the thoughts I have when going into a scene like that. This chapter really was just fluffly, but it served that purpose of letting Chloe kind of crack a little bit in the beginning while also progressing this relationship for the future. To answer that question that some have asked, I plan on doing a future story for this that details life a few years after this event. I don't know how long this story will be or how I will do it yet. I've thought about just adding it to this story after this ending part is done, but I don't know. I still have some stuff to get to in this story before I worry about that.

Victoria is alive! yay? Depends on what you think of her I suppose. In my game she hated me because I was mean to her. I have seen how she acts if you're nice so I wanted to see how she acted if you were mean to her the whole time. That is why my Max is a little indifferent about whether Victoria is happy or upset that she is alive. Generally speaking, I think Victoria is happy they are alive, she acts like a %$^% sometimes, but I think she cares deep down. She would be the one that just completely broke down if her life changed suddenly, at least that is how I think of her.

Oh right and the power is back on, now we're getting closer to civilization! I won't really have an explanation for this, I am in college for programming, I have no idea how long it would take for electricity to be back online. That being said, I know someone who does storm work and they are on it right away usually from what I know so I'm basing it off that idea. . . I think that is about all I have for now, this chapter was supposed to be fluffy. Life is getting better for Chloe and Max, there relationship is getting stronger and they are becoming more comfortable with one another.

Anyways, I have a math test to take and then a crying recovery session after that. I will see you in the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** hey, so I just have a little update here. I will be a little busier this week so the posts may slow down a little. I'm trying to keep up with 1 a day at least right now. The good news is that I know exactly where I am taking this story here so there shouldn't be too much down time trying to figure stuff out. As I've mentioned before I make these up as I go with little to no planning at all. This method has caused me some road blocks before.

* * *

Max looked at herself in the mirror for a moment before covering her head with the towel she had around her neck again and drying her hair. It felt good to take a shower, not only because she hadn't been able to for the past day or two, but because it gave her time to think and relax.

She spent most of this time thinking about Chloe and what their next step was. Her home was destroyed and her family was living at the Blackwell campus now. She had no idea if they planned on staying here or how things would work out for her since school wasn't going to be in session. She also had the problem of her parents, which she really needed to contact. She imagined the news of this tornado was freaking them out.

She had to contact them, but at the same time she didn't want to. She was afraid they would ask her to come home, but she knew she couldn't. She felt her place was here with Chloe. Honestly she felt her place was wherever Chloe was. That means she would have to tell her parents about her relationship, something she wasn't sure would go over that well.

She needed to find a way to stay in this town with Chloe or leave with Chloe. She sighed realizing she was an adult and could just tell her parents that she wanted to stay with Chloe, but at the same time she didn't feel like an adult yet. Then again she had made a decision no adult would want to make.

Max sighed at that last thought, she had made a decision that no adult in their right mind would want to make and yet she wasn't sure that made her an adult. Chloe would probably argue that it made her more of an adult than anyone, but then again, Chloe didn't really care if her parents didn't want her doing things.

Max glanced over to the door as it opened and Chloe poked her head in, "Max you in—Oh hey."

"Sorry, I took so long, I was just about to come back to the room," Max said as Chloe waved it off as no big deal before entering the shower room.

"The real problem here is that I told you to relax and you look stressed again," Chloe said as she approached Max and looked at her seriously, something Max wasn't used to.

"It's nothing major, it can wait 'till later. Why did you come down here?"

Chloe's cheeks turned a little red, "I was uhh, trying to sneak a peek?"

"By asking if I was in here? You're not very good at it."

Chloe sighed, "Alright fine, I was sitting outside the door making sure no creepers walked in while you were showering. I don't trust anyone in this town after your nut-job teacher and Nathan."

Max smiled as she handed Chloe her shower supplies, "then it's your turn. I'll stand guard this time, it is a little weird seeing people who are students walking around."

"Totally," Chloe agreed with a smile as she took the supplies. "I'll try and make it quick, I even found some clothes that actually are tall enough for me," she said as she went over to one of the showers and pulled the curtain aside before glancing back to Max. "No peeking. . . Unless you want to make my parents wait."

Max blushed deeply from this before turning away from Chloe and taking a deep breath. All she heard aside from the shower curtain being pulled shut was laughing.

Once she regained her complexion she stepped outside the shower room and like Chloe stood by the door. She didn't really trust anyone right now either.

Max glanced over towards the door a few minutes later when Chloe emerged wearing some of her clothes.

"Wowzers, you look so different in my clothes."

Chloe looked at herself for a moment before shrugging, "they're not exactly my style, but something tells me I'm going to get used to seeing your clothes."

Max looked at her curiously trying to figure out what Chloe meant.

"We'll always be together," Chloe simply said answering the question she knew was on Max's mind. "Now let's go put this stuff in your room and go find my parents, I'm sure they aren't the happiest that I didn't let them know where I was staying."

"Scratch that, they definitely aren't happy," Chloe said as they rounded the corner and saw David and Joyce outside Max's dorm room. "Shit," was all Chloe could say before her mother noticed her.

"Chloe, where have you been? I was so worried last night when you didn't come back," Joyce said as Chloe sighed.

"I was."

"I asked her to stay here with me, that camp was depressing," Max said interrupting Chloe. "I'm sorry, it's my fault really."

Joyce looked to Chloe for a minute before looking back to Max, "next time, tell me where you two are going to be," she said as she noticed what Chloe was wearing and the shower supplies in her hand. "Where are you two coming from?"

"The showers, Max let me borrow some of her clothes," Chloe said as Joyce looked at her surprised. "What?"

"Is this why you ran off last night so you two could—" Joyce shook her head as Chloe looked at her odd for a moment before realizing what she was getting at.

"What? No mom, oh my god, I can't believe you just said that. My clothes were just dirty so Max let me borrow some, we didn't take a shower together."

Joyce nodded as she took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, it's just you tell me you're a couple last night then run off to spend the entire night alone and I find you like this."

"Couple?" David asked as he looked to Max and Chloe. "You two?"

Max was the first to nod as David sighed.

"You knew about this?" David asked Joyce as she nodded.

"They told me yesterday, I was going to tell you when we had some down time."

"It's not a big deal really," Chloe said as David put a hand to his head and sighing.

"How long?"

"Officially, just a day or two, but this has been going on a lot longer than that," Chloe explained as David shook his head.

. . .

"I can't deal with this right now. We'll talk later," he said before leaving the girls and Joyce.

"Dude, whatever," Chloe sighed knowing another storm was brewing. "Is it even a big deal?"

"It is," Joyce said as she looked at Chloe, "you're in a relationship with, Max. I'm not against it, but this is a big change. I have questions too."

"Like what?" Chloe asked feeling a little defensive.

"Chloe this isn't the place."

"What is there to question? I am in a relationship with her."

Joyce sighed realizing Chloe wasn't going to give this up. "I don't know, how about the fact that you're with another girl. Does that mean you're. . .?"

"A lesbian?" Chloe asked as her mother looked around for a moment. "Yes, if that is what you want to call then yes, I am a lesbian. The truth is, I am in love with Max, mom. I have loved her for a long time and I don't feel like it needs a label or to be judged."

"Chloe, I'm not judging, it's just… What would you do if I told you I was dating a woman out of the blue?"

Chloe sighed, as she looked away from her mother.

"This isn't the place for this kind of conversation. I'll be in the main building if you need me, I'm assuming right now that you will be staying in Max's room. I will be by tonight to make sure you are there."

"Fine," Chloe said as her mother walked away. She shook her head before walking to Max's room, setting her stuff down, and falling back onto the bed.

"Why do I always do this?" Chloe asked herself as she covered her face with her hands. "I always fight with them."

Max sat down on her computer chair thinking for a moment, "it's probably just the situation we're in. All of us are stressed out right now, Chloe."

"I'm such a bitch," Chloe sighed as she sat up in Max's bed, but let her head hang low. "She was right, I wouldn't even know what to think if she brought home a girl."

"Chloe, don't say that," Max said with a sigh. "You're not a. . ." Max should her head, she wasn't going to call her girlfriend that. She took a deep breath instead, "we're both stressed out. Our home has been destroyed, our lives have been changed forever, and we are the only ones that have any idea as to why that is."

Chloe looked up to Max who wasn't finished speaking.

"Through all of this we were able to find something good and unfortunately it's something that is questioned. You're not…" Max sighed, "You're high strung right now. I know you are, I also know that I am the one that put the weight of this town's fate on your shoulders. You have a reason to be upset, to be honest, I don't know why you're not upset with me."

"I'm selfish, that is why I'm not upset with you."

Max raised an eyebrow curiously at Chloe who just sighed, "I'm selfish because I would rather have you over this entire town. We did find good in all of this and it wasn't just the fact that we're a real couple now. To be honest though, aside from finding my mom, it's definitely the best and even if worse came to worse, we would still be together."

"Trust me, I would love for your parents and mine to just accept our relationship and just leave it at the fact that we are in love and it's normal. That isn't going to happen and when I talk to my parents about it, I will probably be upset. . . The point is, you're not a…bitch. You're my girlfriend and you're under a lot of stress. Honestly, I feel like I should be the one helping you more, but I'm so wrapped up in my own emotions right now."

"No, Max, that isn't fair," Chloe said interrupting her. "You're doing awesome considering what you had to do. Honestly, what we did yesterday may seem out of place when you think about the situation we're in, but it was the first time I didn't think about all the bad."

. . .

"Everything is just shitty right now, no one knows what to do, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. Even if we don't I'll still have you, right?"

Chloe glanced to Max with a smile, "you'll always have me."

"Good. Now what do you say to getting out of her for a little bit and looking around the city, believe it or not, I'd like to take some pictures."

"Only if I get to be your model."

"I don't know, you might take the viewer's attention away from what's going on and then I'll have to destroy them for checking out my girlfriend."

Chloe chuckled a little as she stood up, "I love that you're such a dork."

* * *

 **An hour or two later. . .**

Max waved the picture a little before looking at it. She had taken many like this today. This one was her favorite though, not because it was of Chloe's house, but because it caught the feeling that she felt the entire town had right now.

When Chloe sat down on part of the rubble with her arms resting on her knees, Max had to take the shot, but she didn't want Chloe to know. The picture featured her sitting among the rubble that was her home looking off to the side, the look of defeat was present on her face though, like all hope was lost. It was pained, but there was a also the sense that a strong person was behind that face.

"Perfect," Max said as she put it in her bag and Chloe looked at her.

"How was that one?" She asked knowing Max had taken the picture from the flash.

"They're all amazing, but I'm a little biased because you're in most of them."

Chloe smiled, "why don't' you put that down and come over here, you've been taking pictures and helping me look through stuff for hours now. Relax a little," she said as Max made her way over to her side and sat down resting her head on Chloe's shoulder.

"It's an entirely different feeling being out here right now."

Chloe looked around and sighed, "I know what you mean, it's just… it's too quiet. To be honest, it just doesn't feel right."

Max looked to Chloe as she picked up something and threw it towards wat used to be her front yard.

"I always talked about how much I hated this place and how I wouldn't care if it was just gone one day." She sighed as she looked around again, "I guess this is a reality check."

"You want to stay here now?" Max asked as Chloe tilted her head to the side a little and picked up another small piece of debris.

"I don't know. . . I guess I just feel different about the town now, but it's probably because you're here and we just made so many memories. As much as I hate this place, I love it, or something like that."

Max nodded as she looked towards Chloe's truck, "I think I can understand that. This place is home after all, even if I did leave you for that time."

"What were you supposed to do tell your parents you were staying behind? I get that you didn't call or text or anything, but that isn't fair for me to say that because I didn't either. Honestly, I kind of just want to forget it happened. What's important is what happens now and in the future."

Max took Chloe's hand and interlaced her fingers with hers. "You're right, that is why I think I want to tell my parents tonight about our relationship. We don't have to worry about finding a place to stay or if your parents are alive. This is selfish, but I kind of just want to focus on us now."

"Then we're both selfish," Chloe said before leaning in for a kiss.

* * *

 **A/N:** alright, so I'll admit this story is focusing on Max and Chloe quite a bit right now, but things in the town are getting under control now and this was originally about how they deal with this. Their relationship is one of the main focuses. I'm sorry if that isn't what you were looking for. That being said, I don't have entirely too much to say right now about this because my only thoughts are on what is coming next which I don't want to spoil. So I guess for now I will just have to leave you with this and say sorry, I usually have a lot more to say. That being said if you have any questions or just want to talk in general send me a PM, like I said I check my email tons throughout the day so I'll be able to get back to you quick.

Anyways, I hope you like what is going on between Max and Chloe, this relationship stuff is really what got me into doing fan fictions. I could honestly just write fluffy stuff and be happy.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Hello, so I know I missed a day, but like I said things are getting a little busier again. That being said I will be trying to put these out like I have been. Unfortunately tomorrow one of my days off I have to work so yay I guess. Anyways, that is just a little about my situation right now. I hope you enjoy the story as always and thank you all for the follows/reviews and all that stuff, I've just been blown away by the support this story is getting.

* * *

"Babe, these are incredible," Chloe said as she went through the pictures Max had taken throughout the town. "You should really do something with these. . . Well maybe not this one," Chloe said as she found a selfie of Max with her in the background. "I want to keep this one."

"Did you just call me, babe?" Max asked as she turned to Chloe who was sitting on the hood of her truck leaning against the window. They had come down to the beach before the sun went down. It was off to the side of the town though so there wasn't as much laying around.

"Do you not like it?" Chloe asked as Max paused for a moment blushing, which thankfully wasn't visible to Chloe. The sun had been behind Max making the front of her covered in shadows.

"No, I love it… Err I mean, I don't mind it," Max said scratching the back of her head as Chloe laughed.

"Seriously, you should send these pictures to someone, they are awesome."

"You really think so?" Max asked as she made her way over to Chloe and climbed up onto her truck to sit next to her.

"Yea, I think so, look at these," Chloe said showing Max her three favorites. "It's worth a shot right?"

Max looked at the pictures in Chloe's hand, one of them was the one she took at Chloe's house when she was sitting on the rubble. "Sure, it's definitely worth a shot, but I want to make a copy of this one first."

"You mind if I keep this one?" Chloe asked as she showed Max her selfie that she had taken earlier.

"You want my selfie?" Max asked as she looked to Chloe curiously.

Chloe blushed as she looked away from Max out towards the sunset. "I… Yea, I do want it."

Max smiled before leaning in and kissing Chloe on the cheek, "it's all yours then."

Chloe smiled this time as she looked down to the picture in her hand, "thanks, I really like this one."

Max looked at the picture in Chloe's hand for a moment trying to understand what it was that Chloe liked. It warmed her heart either way that Chloe wanted to keep it.

"Done playing in the sand?" Chloe asked breaking Max's thoughts.

"Yea, I think I've had enough Arcadia Bay for a day. Let's go back to Blackwell and get something to eat?"

"As long as my parents aren't helping with that. I'm not looking forward to dealing with step-douche."

"Don't worry, we'll just get some food and retreat to my room," Max said as they climbed in the truck. "Believe it or not I'm pretty good at flying under the radar. Then again you might be too now with your new look."

Chloe glanced down at herself after turning the truck on, she had forgotten she was wearing Max's clothes. "Yea, we might have to change this no offense. I love you to death, but your style is. . . I like it on you," Chloe said as Max shrugged.

"You're sexier in your clothes anyways," she shrugged as Chloe looked over at her surprised.

"Whoa, Caulfield, are you coming onto me?"

Max smiled, "whatever makes you feel better."

"Max Caulfield just made a move on me," Chloe said as she looked towards the road.

"It's not like I tried to seduce you," Max said with a shake of her head as Chloe shrugged.

"This wouldn't be the place for that, but I wouldn't mind seeing you try."

Max blushed as she looked to Chloe who just had a grin on her face.

"Totally worth it just for that look," Chloe said as they both laughed a little. "Seriously though, it would be hot."

* * *

 **Back at Blackwell. . .**

Max raised an eyebrow curiously as Chloe's truck came to a stop. There was a white van sitting out front of the school and what looked like a camera crew setting up.

"You should go give them your pictures," Chloe said as she glanced towards Max's bag which Max quickly responded to by setting her bag in her lap. "Max, those pictures are amazing. Those news people would hire you on the spot, I swear."

"I doubt it, the pictures aren't that great," Max said as Chloe sighed.

"You know you're going to have to show someone your pictures besides me one day, right?"

"I will, just not today," Max said a moment later before climbing out of the truck. "We should go find your parents."

Chloe sighed before taking her keys and getting out of the truck. She could tell Max didn't want to talk about it because she had started walking towards the main building without waiting for her.

"Hey, will you wait up for me?" Chloe asked as Max stopped and turned towards her.

"You're not going to drag me over to those news people are you?"

Chloe sighed, "I should, but I won't. I'm just going to be an encouraging girlfriend and say that you should definitely do it because you have talent and the world deserves to see it."

Max blinked once or twice, "I think I want to kiss you."

"I should try—"

Max pulled Chloe close and place a kiss on her lips interrupting whatever it was she was about to say.

"Scratch that, I'm definitely going to say more encouraging things from now on."

Max chuckled a little as she took Chloe's hand, "who's the dork now?"

Chloe rolled her eyes, "whatever, let's go find my parents, I'm sure David wants to give me a speech about how I should reconsider our relationship and how society will blah, blah. . ."

"We could tell him we're engaged and watch him freak."

Chloe laughed, "Oh my god, he would lose his shit. That would be amazing."

Max opened the door to the campus and let Chloe walk past her, "I don't think your mom would appreciate it very much though."

"Appreciate what?" Joyce asked as both girls turned to her. They hadn't even noticed her standing at a table near the door.

Chloe shook her head, "it's nothing, just talking about something we did last night."

Joyce looked at her seriously for a moment as she put a hand on her hip.

Max nudged Chloe's arm with her elbow as the blue haired girl looked up to her mother.

"One, I saw that, Max. Two, what did you do last night that I wouldn't appreciate, Chloe Price?"

"Oh shit, this is worse. Alright we were just talking about telling David we were engaged to see what his reaction would be, but we said you wouldn't appreciate it."

"You're right, I wouldn't," Joyce said with a sigh. "Thanks for telling the truth at least."

"Could you hold this, I need to use the bathroom," Max said as she handed Chloe her bag. Chloe watched as Max went towards the bathroom.

"Holding your girlfriends things while she runs to the bathroom. You're such a rebel," Joyce teased as Chloe rolled her eyes and glanced down to Max's bag where she saw part of the camera showing.

"You're right, I am," Chloe said as she reached in the bag and pulled out something before handing the bag to her mom. "Here hold this and… pen, I need a pen," Chloe said as she reached a hand back into her bag and pulled one out. "Stay right here and if Max asks where I went tell her I forgot something in my truck and will be right back."

Joyce just watched in confusion as Chloe put the pen cap in her mouth and started writing on the back of what looked like pictures before leaving the building.

"If you won't turn them in, I will," Chloe told herself as she flipped the pictures over to ensure they were the right ones, she had put Max's name and her contact info on the back of all three of them.

When Max exited the bathroom she raised an eyebrow curiously as Joyce who was now holding her bag. "Where did Chloe go?"

"I have no idea, she said she forgot something in her truck and ran out of here, she is coming right back though."

"Oh, well thanks for holding my bag," Max said as Joyce waved a hand at her.

"So how have things with Chloe been going? It's still a little weird to think that you are her girlfriend."

"They've been great," Max said as she thought of the past few days and what happened to her and Chloe. "I know she told you I saved her, but the truth is, I'm starting to think she is the one saving me."

Joyce looked Max oddly for a moment as that troubled look crossed Max's face again. Joyce had never seen that look of pain on her before, "everything alright, Max?"

Max nodded realizing she was thinking about it again, "yea, sorry. This storm has just kind of shaken me a bit. Chloe is keeping me together right now, she really is different when we're alone."

Joyce smiled, "it's good to hear that things are going well. I think we all need to try and find something good out of this and it seems you've already found yours."

Joyce and Max looked up to the door near them open as Chloe stepped inside out of breath, "speaking of your good thing."

"What did you forget in your truck?'

Chloe paused for a moment, "my keys."

"You forgot your keys?" Joyce asked realizing the weak excuse.

"Yea, I was trying to catch up to, Max. We can talk about that later, where is step—"

Joyce sighed, "David, is working right now. A company has been kind enough to hire most of the town as cleanup crew. They've setup a fund raiser and are using it to make sure we all have a place to stay and food to eat. You two should check it out, I'm sure they have something you can do on there. Unless you are going home, Max?"

Max shook her head as she reached out and grabbed Chloe's hand, "no, I want to stay here. It just doesn't feel right to leave here."

"Is that because of my daughter or because this is your home?"

Max blushed a little as she looked to Chloe, "I'm going to say both, but one thing might be a better reason than the other."

Joyce smiled, "I like that answer. You two just stay out of trouble and look at that job board. They have all sorts of things you two could do besides cleanup duties."

"We'll look at it in the morning, we need to get something to eat and get some sleep."

"Just make sure you do," Joyce said before looking towards the hallway behind them. "Head down there, they are serving food in one of the classrooms. "If you leave the school again tonight, tell me. I'd prefer you two stay here though."

"Don't worry, we're just going to go back to my dorm for the rest of the night after this," Max said before turning to follow Chloe.

Joyce just sighed, "at least Chloe can't get pregnant," she told herself before going back to what she was doing.

* * *

 **Back at Max's dorm. . .**

Max paced back in forth in front of her bed as Chloe watched go towards her bedroom door and then back towards her computer desk. She had been doing this for about five minutes now without realizing it.

"You know walking back and forth isn't going to make it easier right?"

Max stopped and gave Chloe a nasty look before starting to walk again.

"That didn't help anything either."

"Sorry, I'm just nervous, I don't even know what to say," Max said as Chloe thought for a moment.

"Practice on me," Chloe said as she sat up straight and got a weird look from Max. "I'm serious, come on pretend I'm your mom, I won't even say anything."

"I wouldn't even know where to begin, do I just say 'hey mom, I'm a lesbian and I'm not coming home.' That just doesn't sound right."

"Are you a lesbian?" Chloe asked as Max looked at weird again. "Seriously, just because you're dating me doesn't mean that you are. I mean that Warren guy seemed to have your interest for a while there."

"He interested me because he was the only one here that would actually talk to me like I was a human. He was the only friend I had 'till I ran into you again and that is all I ever wanted from him was a friend."

Chloe remained silent as Max sighed, she had never openly said it before, "I. . . Yes, I would consider myself a lesbian. I guess thinking back I've only ever had interest in girls," she said before stopping and taking a deep breath.

"How did that feel?"

"Well I admitted it to you," Max said as she took a seat on her bed next to Chloe. "What about you? You were kind of stressing when you said you were earlier."

"Yea, I was pretty upset, but every word was true, Max. I am and you're the only girl for me."

"What about—"

Chloe put a hand up to stop Max from speaking.

"I knew you were going to ask about her. I won't lie that I did feel something, but she was with Frank and she didn't even tell me," Chloe sighed as she laid back in Max's bed. "Something like that makes me question if I was the only one feeling anything in that situation. To honest, I think I was alone in that feeling. It actually kind of pisses me off now, but I don't want to think about it. Rachel was a good friend either way, I'd just like to remember her like that."

"Sorry," Max said a moment later as Chloe put a hand on Max's shoulder and pulled her down to lay next to her. "I just hope I can be what she was to you. You always speak so highly of her."

Chloe frowned at the words, "Max, you are nothing like her and you will never be what she was to me."

"Oh…"

"You can't be," Chloe added as Max sighed before sitting up.

"I didn't know you felt that strongly about her."

"Max, I didn't mean that in a bad way," Chloe said realizing what she was sounding like. "You can't be what she was to me because you are already so much more. I thought there might be something with Rachel, but she didn't even tell me what she was doing when she was here. She was a great friend and that was it. You are a great friend and now you're my girlfriend, you have given me so much more than Rachel ever would have."

Max sat silent as Chloe sat up and put her arm around her.

"Hey, I mean it, Max Caulfield. You are the most important person in this world to me. I fucking love you so much and I don't want you to ever doubt that you're the one for me. Rachel was a great friend and I do talk about her a lot, but that is because she was the only thing to talk about since you got back. If it makes you feel better I'll stop, I didn't know it bothered you."

Max lifted her head with a slight smile, "It doesn't really, I just. . . I'm jealous that she was so close to you, I guess. I suppose it's like Warren for you."

Chloe smiled, "I know exactly what you are talking about, but trust me, Max, Rachel has nothing on you," she said as she grabbed Max's hand. "I love you, Maxine Caulfield."

Max smiled, "I love when you get all mushy on me."

Chloe kissed her, "you're the only one that will know I can do it. . . Now why don't you call your mom, I will sit right here with you."

Max sighed before nodding and pulling out her phone. Before she could think about it she forced herself to dial the number and put the phone up to her ear.

She took a deep breath a moment later before hearing the other line pick up, "Hey mom."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright so one, I am sorry for that right there ^. This chapter is already a tiny bit longer than the others and quite honestly I was going to write the phone call into this one, but I think it would have been around 4k words then. There is nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to get something out instead of making you all wait longer.

So in this one I finally kind of answer the Rachel question for myself. I know some of you may not agree with what I say about her, but again I am basing this story off my own game and the way I saw the game. CHloe and Max are breaking down walls almost every chapter it seems, they're definitely getting much closer in my opinion. Hopefully you are all getting that too.

So i don't think I ever talked about Blackwell becoming the new, "camp." I have never beein in a situation like this, but I imagine this is how things would go and they will go because I have a bunch of ideas in motion right now. Anyways, I thought it might be weird to have the girls still in their dorms, but at the same time maybe not. The way I look at it is those dorms are basically their homes and the entire town is not at this campus. The main building should be big enough to fit the remainder of the town. I would think the school would keep people out of the dorms so nothing happened which is why max still has her room. I hope that makes sense, if it doesn't just use your imagination for my sake haha.

The other thing I'm having trouble with and this is more of a me issue bleeding into the story is that Chloe and Max's relationship are a big deal but I have trouble making it out to be one. Joyce's arguement about how if she brought home a girl Chloe would freak is about as good as i can get it. It is a big decision, but I think writing for as long as I have about couples like this, I lost my ability to see it as a big deal. Perhaps I'm just not as judgemental, I don't know, but this is an issue that definitely plagues me and my stories now. I always envision parents needing time or being upset about the decision. I am hesitant to bring religious reasons into my stories because I don't think it has a place and I do not want to start arguements. Unfortuantely, for me personally, I see this being the biggest issue as to why they can't be together and again I am not trying to offend anyone by saying this, but I think it's the truth. If you're interested in talking about this more PM me.

I also wanted to apologize if I have gotten things wrong in this story. The first thing I ask is that you remember I'm doing this off my game play. If it didn't happen in my game I'm probably unaware of it. I also didn't interact with absolutely everything, I played the game back in early July then again for episode 4 and 5. My episode 5 play though I restarted the game completely and just ran through it quick to get a refresher on main events. So again I'm sorry if I'm not 100% accurate on everything in this.

Anyways, I've rambled a lot so I'm just going to answer some general questions or comments that I've seen.

Max calls home to her parents = working on it.

Will this story be a longer one = I have no clear end in sight, but I still have quite a bit I want to get to. I'm figuring out how I'm going to do it right now.

Love scene? = I have heard this request. I still stand by what I said in a previous chapter about how I write them, but I've been thinking :).

I think that is most everything or at least the most common things I'm seeing. Thanks again for all the support, I really mean it, I'm just amazed by it all. You are all seriously making my week much better which is good considering the big math test I have next week D:.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Happy Halloween :D. This chapter here is that phone call, I am sorry for that cliffhanger. That said, this chapter really is just the phone call. Max's parents are hmm. . . They are kind of blank slates sort of, so I tried to make them how I thought they would be based off the story. Max's mother being the one I don't know basically anything about. I did read her wiki page and I do recall certain things, but they didn't give me a good enough idea of what she would be like exactly.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, I know I've slowed down with the posts, but I have been a little busy with homework. I have a math quiz tomorrow and a really big one on Monday along with some programming stuff. I wouldn't expect the next post until probably Tuesday, I have to focus on this math class, it's the last one I need for college.

* * *

"Oh my god, Max are you alright? We were so worried, we've been trying to get ahold of you and the school and anyone."

Max looked to Chloe who just smiled at her, "No one has been able to get through, the phones seemed to just turn back on recently."

"Thank god you are alright, where are you staying?"

"I'm in my dorm room, mom. The school didn't get any damage done to it from what I can tell. Everything is fine though, I have food, I am warm, and nothing is wrong."

"Maxine the town was destroyed and you barley dodged a tornado, don't tell me everything is fine. I've been going crazy trying to get ahold of you."

"There is no need to worry, mom, I'm fine. Chloe and Joyce have been watching out for me," Max said as her mother finally sighed in relief.

"I'm just happy you're alright, let me go get your father," Max's mother said as Max sat in silence listening as her mother made her way through their house.

"Ryan," her mother called before coming back onto the phone, "he must be upstairs, hold on."

"Ryan, you have a phone call," she called out one more time before going silent again. Max could hear everything going on in the background including when her father got close. "It's for you."

"Hello?" He answered as Max smiled.

"Hey, dad, how's life?"

"Max? Oh my god, Max, I'm so happy to hear you," He said before Max heard a sniffle in the background. "It's, Max."

"I know, I've already talked to her, she is alive," max heard her mother say in the background.

"H-How are you, Max? You're not hurt are you?" Her father asked as Max thought about what had happened over the past week.

"No, dad, I'm fine. Chloe and Joyce have been taking care of me. They are on campus with me, Chloe has actually been staying with me," Max explained as her father smiled and took a deep breath.

"This is a weight off your mother and I's shoulders, I'm so glad you're alright. You said you were staying with Chloe?"

"She's staying with me actually, the school was untouched, so they are letting us stay in our dorm rooms. Chloe is just staying here with me. Joyce is staying in the main building helping out with whatever needs to be done."

"Well I'm glad you were able to find Chloe again at least."

"Me too, dad," Max said with a glance towards Chloe that made her smile.

"Ask her when she is coming home," her mother said in the background as Max frowned a little, she figured this question was coming.

"That's right, I assume that classes are no longer going on right?"

"Uhh, no they aren't right now, but it could be soon," Max said knowing it was a complete lie, the school was in no shape to go back to normal business with all the towns people living there. She was hoping it would make her excuse for staying stronger though with the thought that school may be in session again soon.

"If that's the case then when are you coming home? I can't wait to see you," her mother said as Max covered her face with her hand. Chloe's hand on her back was the only thing that gave her courage right now.

"Dad, I hadn't really thought about coming home. I want to stay here actually," Max said as the phone line went silent for a moment.

"There is a lot of stuff going on here and if I were to go back home all I would be doing is finding a job until school opens. They have tons of jobs here that I can do."

"I understand, Max, but why does it matter if it's there or here?" Her father asked curiously as Max sighed.

". . .I guess I just feel like I should help out here, it doesn't feel right abandoning a place I grew up when they could use my help. . . There is another reason too."

Chloe looked at Max with a worried look, she could see the pressure threatening to crack Max right now.

"There is another reason?" Her father asked.

"Yes," Max said with a sigh, which her father heard.

"Max, what's wrong?"

". . .It's just…I don't know how to say this, dad."

"Did something happen to you, Max? Tell me what's wrong."

"No, dad, nothing happened to me it's just that. . ." Max closed her eyes as Chloe put her arm around her and pulled her close. "I can't go back because I fell in love with Chloe and I won't leave her again."

"Excuse me?"

Max took the phone away from her ear for a moment as she took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling with her eyes shut.

"Hey, you're doing hella awesome," Chloe said as Max nodded and put the phone back up to her ear.

"Max are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm here, dad," Max replied.

"Did I hear what you just said right?"

. . .

"You did, dad. Chloe is my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend…?," he asked before taking a deep breath and finding a spot to sit down.

Max took a deep breath trying to calm herself down a little as she waited for a response from her dad.

"H-How did this happen? I mean when did you decide this? I had no idea you even thought of her like that."

"Dad," Max said stopping him from going any further. "One question at a time please, I'm already freaking out about telling you this."

Her father sighed, "I'm sorry, Max. I'm just… This is a lot to take in."

"Is mom still there?"

"No, she went upstairs, I'll tell her later," her father replied before pausing again. "Alright, Max. You said Chloe is your girlfriend as in you're a couple, you're dating, and you have feelings for her."

"Yes, yes, yes, and yes."

"Hearing it a second time doesn't help it sink it," her father chuckled before rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"So how long have you. . . I mean you haven't been back in Arcadia Bay that long, is this a recent thing?"

Max looked to Chloe, she was actually surprised, her father seemed to be keeping rather calm throughout this. She was expecting him to maybe be a little overwhelmed or upset, but instead he kept a level head and didn't reject her decision immediately.

"I haven't been back long, but I think this started back before we moved. She was my best friend then and seeing her again kind of. . . I guess reignited what was already there."

"Is it safe to assume that you're…"

"A lesbian?" Max asked curiously before thinking for a moment. "Yes, I think so."

"You think so?" Her father asked curiously as Max sighed.

"I haven't really thought about it too much myself, I'm still thinking about what it means, but I do know that I love Chloe. There is no question in my mind about that, I've never felt this way about anyone before, I can't even start to describe it," Max explained getting a little emotional towards the end.

"I believe you, Max and I don't doubt what you are feeling, I just want to understand it better."

Max took a deep breath to calm herself, "I love her, dad. That is why I can't leave."

Her father sighed as he thought to himself, "Perhaps it would be best if you both come visit then? Your mother and I would like to see you and we could all talk about this in person. Realistically I can't force you to come back, you are an adult now, but you're still my little girl and even though I hear you are alright, I would like to see you."

"You're not upset about my decision?"

Her father took a deep breath as he put together his thoughts for a minute, "Upset? No, I'm not upset Max. I am surprised and it's going to take a few days for this to really hit me. You are my daughter though and you're perfect the way you are. We sent you to Blackwell because you wanted to go there and we support your decisions. This is a big decision and it's definitely something no one saw coming, but I'm not going to try and change who you are. I only wants what is best for you."

"Mom is going to freak," Max said as her father took a deep breath.

"Do you want to talk to her or do you want me to tell her?"

Max sighed, "I think I want to talk to her, I don't know, I was scared enough telling you."

Max looked to Chloe who just smiled at her a little.

"I'll talk to her," Max sighed feeling that same dread she did just a minute ago when she told her father. The truth was it never really left her, it was just pushed aside a little when her father seemed to be alright with it.

"Let me go grab her then, I'll be right back," her father said as Max heard him put the phone down.

"He's going to get my mom," Max said as Chloe kissed her on the cheek.

"You're doing hella awesome, Max."

"My hand is shaking," Max noted a as she lifted it and stared at it for a moment before Chloe took it.

"It doesn't shake as bad when I hold it," Chloe said interlacing her fingers with Max.

Max blinked once or twice, "that is quite possibly the cutest thing you've ever said to me and I love it."

Chloe raised an eyebrow quick, it seemed her observation was taken a different way by Max. After a minutes thought Chloe blushed a little mostly out of embarrassment, "you tell no one."

"What that my girlfriend is a cute dork when we're alone?"

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

Max's eyes went wide, she hadn't realized her mom had picked the phone up yet. "I-I… Mom. . ."

"Your father said we had something you wanted to discuss, I assume this is it?"

Max swallowed the lump in her throat, her mother sounded a little beside herself right now.

"Yes."

Her mother sighed.

"Listen, I know you probably aren't happy and I'm sorry—"

"No, Max, you're wrong," her mother interrupted with a sigh. "I won't say I'm exactly happy, but you shouldn't be sorry."

"I shouldn't?"

"We raised you to be your own person, Max. Of course I had my own personal hopes and wishes for you, but in the end we wanted you to make your choices and you have so far."

"Dad basically said the same thing, did he tell you?"

Her mother chuckled a little, "no, he just reminded me how we raised you and he is right. . . So what is her name?"

"Uhh, it's. . . It's Chloe, mom."

"Chloe? You mean your friend from—"

"Yes, mom, Chloe is my girlfriend now."

There was a long pause as Max glanced to Chloe, she wasn't sure what to think right now.

". . .Sorry, I just," her mother took a deep breath. "I need to think about this for a bit. I'm going to let you talk to your father again, I will call you tomorrow morning, make sure you pick up or I will fly down there, Maxine."

"I will, I will," Max sighed.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Max, I love you."

"I love you too, mom, I'm sorry that I dropped this on you with my first call home."

"Don't be, Max. As long as you're happy everything will be fine, now here talk to your father."

Max smiled a little as that weight felt like it was lifted. Her mother still seemed a little overwhelmed by the fact, but she was at least listening. Max worried that her mother would reject it completely.

"That didn't go so bad," her father said answering the phone again as Max took a deep breath.

"That was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life," Max said causing her father to chuckle.

"And I'm proud of you for it, Max. You will always be my daughter no matter what and before you say it, don't worry, I'll talk with your mother. You just enjoy the rest of your night and take it easy, you've been through a lot this past week and today especially."

Max smiled a little bit, "you have no idea, but I'll try and take it easy tonight."

"Good then have a good night, I love you, Max."

"I love you too, dad."

Max exhaled kind of loud as she shut the phone off and threw it onto her couch across the room before laying back in her bed. "I don't even want to see that thing until completely necessary."

Chloe looked from the phone to Max and smiled as she climbed over top of her, completely taking advantage of the fact that Max was on her back.

"What are you doing?" Max asked curiously as Chloe's smiled widened.

"Congratulating you," Chloe said as she leaned down and placed a kiss on Max's lips. "I know that wasn't easy for you to do."

"It wasn't, but I think everything is going to be alright," Max said as Chloe smiled.

"Good, then let's forget about that for a bit and focus on this," Chloe said before leaning down for another kiss.

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright, so this chapter pretty much was literally just a conversation which is fine by me. I prefer heavy interaction in my stories, but there isn't much else going on beyond that and I know some people absolutely hate that. That being said it's a phone call. So this was kind of a big moment for Max, telling her parents she was in a relationship with Chloe and saying she wanted to stay in Arcadia Bay because of it. Of course more details will come later, this phone call was purely meant to have Max come out to her parents.

Now the idea of them being lesbian is something not everyone will agree on in my opinion. To me it doesn't actually matter what they label themselves, but they are saying they are because I think it would be easier to explain your situation with that in mind and again, I don't think they really care. That being said I'm a straight white male so what do I know. The reason I write stuff like this isn't suited to be here, PM me if your interested.

Oh and the last thing I wanted to touch on because I got quite a few comments/questions about it was religion. I don't think I explained myself very well last chapter so I'm going to try again. The reason I brought it up was because of David actually. I don't think Max and Chloe are very religious, but David's disapproval stems from that in this story, even though I haven't directly said it yet (sorry). Is he actually religious? I have no idea honestly, I just see him as a religious person even if he doesn't mention anything about it. I guess that is really what I was trying to say and I don't really want to go into this more because this stuff hasn't happened yet. I just generally try and keep out of religion because no one seems to agree on anything and become easily offended, at least those are the people I have met in my own personal life. I'm on the people can believe what they want to believe mentality myself, I am in no position to tell someone otherwise.

Anyways, that is all I had for this, I hope you liked the chapter even though it was just the phone call really and I will see you hopefully soon. The next post really depends on how my quiz/notes and all that other stuff go on Monday.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Hello, so I know this one took a little longer, I've been having some headache issues lately that start last weekend and have kind of been off and on since then. They were really bad on Sunday, Monday, and on Tuesday they started going away. Things seem to be going back to normal now, but only time will tell I suppose. It is odd though considering I barely ever get headaches. Anyways this is chapter 10, I hope you all like it.

* * *

Chloe smiled as she leaned down close to Max's lips again and looked into her eyes for a moment.

"You look stressed," Chloe said as she gave Max a quick kiss which caused Max to smile.

"I just told my parents I'm in love with a girl, I guess you could say I'm a little stressed," Max replied as Chloe leaned down and gave her another quick kiss.

"You did awesome and both of your parents know," Chloe said giving Max another quick kiss.

"They would kill me if they knew what I was doing right now."

Chloe grinned, "this isn't as bad as breaking into the pool and hiding from campus security."

Max laughed a little before kissing Chloe herself and then staring at her for a moment, "she would really kill me if I told her the person that made me do that was the one kissing me right now in my bed."

"So Max Caulfield likes the bad girls," Chloe said as Max rolled her eyes.

"I fell in love with one bad girl, but something tells me she isn't as hardcore as she seems."

"Pshh, I'm about to redefine hardcore with what I'm going to do to you," Chloe said before her breath was taken away when Max's hand touched her in a place she wasn't expecting.

"So hardcore," Max smiled as Chloe blinked once or twice.

"You grabbed my boob, that isn't even fair," Chloe complained.

"I didn't realize the hardcore played by the rules," Max said as Chloe squinted at her for a moment before kissing her. Unlike the other kisses they had shared though Chloe didn't stop this one early, she pressed into it catching Max off guard. The only thing stopping her was that spine tingling feeling when she felt Max's hand slip under her shirt and go up her back.

"Shit," Chloe breathed as Max looked up at her, she could see that Chloe was feeling something.

"What's wrong Che?"

Chloe breathed again, those small circles Max was drawing with her finger on her back was driving her crazy.

"Cat got your tongue?"

Chloe smiled as she looked back to Max with that slightly intoxicated look on her face, "I think it's more like Max has my tongue."

"Oh I—," Max was silenced as Chloe went back in for another kiss completely stopping her from speaking. She was silenced further when she felt Chloe's tongue against hers. Chloe had completely taken over her senses at this point as her wandering hands found unexplored areas to grasp at.

Chloe didn't even seem to care that her shirt had been lifting farther and farther moments later, the only thing breaking this lustful kiss was the need for air.

"Wowzers," Max breathed when the kiss finally broke, she had her own love drunk look about her as she breathed deep.

"Who's hardcore now?" Chloe asked with a victorious grin on her face as Max smiled.

"That was hella awesome," Max said as Chloe's grin widened.

"I like when you say hella, it's oddly hot."

"Well you seem hella hot and bothered," Max replied as Chloe blinked once or twice.

"Ok, first who says that? And now you just seem like a dork," Chloe teased. "You're my dork though and I want to kiss you again."

Max could only respond with a smile as her lips connected with Chloe's once again for a moment before hearing a knock at her door. Chloe glanced back towards the door for a second before looking to Max again, "just ignore it," she said as she leaned back in for another kiss only to hear more knocking.

Max sighed, "I'll just tell them to go away."

"Mood killer," Chloe sighed as she climbed off Max and let her go to the door. She shook her head when she saw it was Victoria.

"Hey, what's up Victoria," Max said as Victoria looked past her into her room. She noticed Chloe laying on her bed.

"Lezzing out?" Victoria asked as Max stepped in front of Chloe to block her from Victoria's view.

"What do you want?" Max asked again as Victoria remained silent for a moment before giving her that high and mighty snobby look that she was so good at pulling off.

"I was just wondering if you had seen my laptop, I know you like to venture into my room every now and again without my permission."

"I have it," Max said as she left the door for a moment to grab her laptop. Victoria looked to Chloe for a moment who didn't look happy at all to see her.

"Problem with our relationship?" Chloe asked as Victoria shook her head and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Why do you even have my computer?"

"We were looking up some—"

"Nothing," Max said interrupting Chloe who was looking to pick on Victoria, probably over the comment she just made. "We used it to charge our phones when the power was out."

"I better not find any weird things on here."

"Nothing worse than what you look at," Chloe commented as Max looked back to her with wide eyes. "What?"

"For your information, I don't look at that type of stuff," Victoria huffed as Max looked back to her.

"I guess that is why you are so uptight all the time," Chloe commented again as Max's eyes widened again.

"Have a good night Victoria," Max said as she closed the door and locked it before Victoria could say anything.

Max looked at Chloe and blinked once or twice in amazement, "what happened to the mushy girl I was just making out with?"

"She is actually pretty hardcore it turns out," Chloe said as Max rolled her eyes.

"Just think what people would say if they knew how much of a dork Chloe Price actually is," Max said as she sat down on the bed again.

Chloe squinted at Max before scooting closer and wrapping her arms around her. Max jumped a little from the sudden hug, "what are yo—Oh. . ."

Chloe placed her lips on Max's neck silencing anything she was about to say. She continued placing small kisses on Max's neck, especially when Max tilted her head to the side. She placed a hand of one of Chloe's arms that was still wrapped around her, this was weird to her but oddly satisfying.

So satisfying that she hadn't even realized Chloe's hand had found its way to her pants.

Max's eyes popped open as she looked down at Chloe's hand and felt something stir inside her.

"Shh," Chloe said as she kissed Max's neck again knowing the girl was unsure of what to do. "Tell me to stop anytime you want."

Max swallowed the lump in her throat before looking back at Chloe and seeing that lusty look in her eyes. Max just simply nodded as she felt Chloe's fingers find their into her pants slowly. Max felt a rush she had never felt before as she repositioned a little out of nervousness.

Chloe just simply went back to placing soft kisses on her neck as she carefully tried to relax Max.

Max's mind was racing with a million different thoughts as she felt her heart race. She had never had anyone touch her like this before and as soon as Chloe finally reached Max, her thoughts went silent.

Max sucked in her breath at the sudden touch as a new rush was making its way through her body.

"You good?"

Max just simply nodded her response and closed her eyes with another deep breath as she calmed herself. She was nervous, but not wanting Chloe to stop.

Chloe just grinned as she continued kissing Max's neck, she could tell that Max was giving into her more and more as she continued. The kisses on Max's neck were to help calm her, but Chloe wasn't having to do it much anymore, she was more focused on being gentle now. She knew this was Max's first time doing anything like this and she didn't want to screw anything up.

When Max took Chloe's hand that was still wrapped around her Chloe smiled. She could feel Max reacting to her through hand squeezes and the way she tensed and relaxed. She took pleasure in the small noises Max was trying to keep from coming out, but as she continued Max seemed to care less and less.

Chloe felt her own rush when Max pushed herself into Chloe's hand and made an indescribable noise before turning to Chloe and kissing her as lustfully as she ever had. Chloe immediately moved a bit so that they weren't in such an uncomfortable position, but she never stopped doing what she was doing to Max. Especially when she saw the lustful look on Max's face, she had never seen her like this before.

"Chloe, oh my—," Max bit her bottom lip at the sensation she was feeling.

Chloe only felt encouraged by this as she once again pressed her lips against Max's. She was feeling just as turned on as Max was right now as they both became lost in the moment.

"Chloe," Max breathed as she laid her head back and starting moving her hips in motion with what Chloe was doing to her.

Chloe took a deep breath this time as she watched Max and realized fully what she was doing to her, what she was making Max feel.

"Hold on," Max said as Chloe stopped for a moment and watched Max unbutton her pants and pull them down a little.

Chloe just paused for a moment as she stared at Max in amazement.

"It's easier for you now," Max said as she pressed her lips against Chloe's again bringing the blue haired girl back to reality as her fingers started working again.

She was having a hard time focusing on the fact that Max was kissing her though, she hadn't seen Max like this before and it was turning her on more than she ever had been. When Max's hips started moving again Chloe lost her breath, she could see everything that was going on.

"Chloe somethings coming," Max said as she grabbed Chloe's hand and looked at her with a pleading look in her eyes as Chloe went faster. As soon as she did, Max wrapped an arm around Chloe's neck and pulled her into a deep kiss before feeling something she never had before.

Her back arched as she moaned into Chloe's mouth a moment before breaking the kiss and hugging her tighter.

Chloe took a deep breath as she became just as lost as max was in this moment.

"Chloe that was. . ." Max took a deep breath, "that was incredible."

Chloe nodded taking a deep breath herself as Max let go of her, "that was pretty intense."

Max gave Chloe another kiss before standing up and pulling her pants back up, Chloe could only watch with red cheeks. She wasn't sure why she was acting like this, she had seen plenty of things like this on the internet before.

"I can't believe how tiring that is," Max said as Chloe chuckled.

"First time?" Chloe asked as she scooted over in Max's bed and patted the spot next to her.

"Yes, believe it or not, that was my first time," Max said as Chloe smiled at her. "I know it sounds stupid, but I wish I could have your first."

Chloe's smile widened as she scooted closer to Max who was lying next to her now, "you will, but let's just chill for tonight."

"Wait what?" Max asked as Chloe sighed knowing she had explaining to do. "You've never—"

"No," Chloe said interrupting Max. "I've never done anything like that before Max. . . Pretty lame right? I talk big but, no, I've never done that with anyone before."

Max looked at Chloe now feeling really awkward, "you mean. . .?"

Chloe sighed, "I mean you will have my first time when we get there, but you look pretty tired, let's wait on it for now. I still can't believe I just did that. . ."

Max smiled for a moment before giving Chloe a kiss on the cheek, "so hardcore."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright, so this was basically just a fluffyish love scene, I know. I hope you enjoyed this because as I've mentioned before I don't think I'm particularily good at these scenes. I don't personally like reading every single detail of what they are doing and that comes through in my writing I believe. That being said since being on Fan Fiction, I've gone a little bit further into their actions, but this is about as far as I'll take it generally.

The last thing I wanted to mention which I'm sure quite a few of you are aware of is that Fallout 4 is coming out this week. I am not dropping the story, but I may not work on it for a day or two when that comes out :x. That being said I am not one to be able to sit down and play a game 8 hours straight, so I will probably take breaks throughout and write a bit. I just felt like I should update people.

Again, I hope you liked this chapter, I am going to go to sleep and hope I didn't disappoint all of you!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Hello, so I actually got this one out a little bit faster than I thought I would. I haven't looked, but I think this is the longest chapter of the story so far. I hope you like this chapter, I tried to take on something that I think needed to be tackled. More on that down below though!

* * *

Chloe blinked once or twice as she looked towards the window and saw the sunlight shining through the blinds. She felt around on the bed for her phone that she had set next to her before sleeping. The time was just after eight in the morning.

She glanced towards max who was still sleeping soundly next to her, she could only take a deep breath when she thought of what she did with max the night before. She had seen Max in a way that no one else ever had, she knew this thought would be on her mind for a while.

She may have gone a little overboard trying to prove she was still hardcore, but in the end she regretted nothing. Not even the fact that she said Max would have her first time, she wasn't quite sure what Max thought of that yet. She seemed happy, but Chloe always wondered if Max had thought she'd done things like that before. She could see why Max would think that and for some reason that kind of bothered her.

Realistically she hadn't really ever thought about it very much, she was who she was and if someone didn't like it she didn't care. She didn't feel that way about Max though. She found herself wondering what Max really thought of her, it bothered her not knowing and made her feel good when Max said she loved her.

Chloe sighed as she laid back in bed and looked at the ceiling, "I'm really in love. . ."

The idea hadn't fully sank in yet, she had told Max she loved her and she always felt something when saying it. Actually thinking about the idea of what she really felt for Max though made it painfully obvious to her. This feeling in her heart was only getting worse by the day and after last night this feeling was all she could focus on.

She was in love with Max and she realized now this intensifying feeling was what it felt like to fall even harder in love with her than she already was. Things that she never even thought of before were now on her mind. She cared about what Max thought of her, she felt that potential heartbreak at the thought of losing her, and she dreamed about where they might be in ten years. All the thoughts surrounding her were only adding to this confusing yet overwhelming feeling.

Chloe took a deep breath before a thought crossed her mind and she sat up.

"Hey," Chloe said quietly as she shook Max a little to wake her. "I'm going to go get something to eat quick."

"What time is it?" Max asked groggily as she looked around for a moment.

"It's still early, you just go back to sleep. I need to talk to my mom anyways," Chloe said as she gave max a kiss on the cheek before climbing over her and getting out of bed. "I'll be back soon, you just sleep."

Chloe watched as Max just nodded slightly before curling back up and closing her eyes. She carefully left the room being as quiet as she could before making her way to the main building to look for her mom.

When she entered the building she looked around, they had posted signs near the entrance to direct people. Something caught her eye though when she glanced towards the cafeteria sign.

"So this is what mom was talking about," Chloe said to herself as she approached the bulletin board with a bunch of papers posted on it. There were all types of jobs ranging from simple things that anyone could do some requiring training like healthcare.

"Chloe Price up early and looking at job postings? Pinch me, I must be dreaming," Joyce said as Chloe turned from the board to her mother frowning at her comment.

"You told me to look," Chloe responded as Joyce chuckled.

"I was just teasing, Chloe, I'm glad you're looking. Did Max talk you into it?" Joyce asked as she looked around, "speaking of which where is she?"

"She is still sleeping," Chloe said as she looked towards her mom feeling a little odd about this. "I-I kind of wanted to do this on my own. She doesn't know I'm looking at this board."

Joyce raised an eyebrow, "you wanted to do this on your own?"

Chloe scratched the back of her neck feeling awkward, "yea, I mean. . . I'm just afraid I'm going to screw this up I guess."

"Screw what up? Is everything alright?"

"Its fine," Chloe sighed as she looked around quick. "Nothing is wrong between us, in fact things have never been better. I guess I'm just feeling weird about the whole situation. I mean. . . I guess what I'm trying to say is I feel like I need to do something, because she deserves better than me."

Joyce looked at Chloe silent for a moment, she could see by the look on Chloe's face and the tone in her voice that there was genuine concern behind her words. "You know I never thought I would see this day," Joyce said as Chloe looked up at her mother who was smiling.

"I think I can understand what you're saying, Chloe. You want to better yourself because you think Max deserves it?" Joyce asked as Chloe sighed and nodded.

"I mean she has her school and photography and everything is going good for her and then there is me. I'm not in school, I get in trouble all the time, and I have been involved with some bad people. I just worry that one day she is going to get everything she wanted because she tried for it and I'm going to drag her down and lose her."

"You're almost right," Joyce said as Chloe raised an eyebrow. "She doesn't exactly have school right now and to be honest she seems more focused on you than photography. I don't think it's a bad idea for you to find a job here, but something tells me that Max likes you just the way you are. I'm sure she would appreciate it though if you stopped getting involved with bad people though. I know I would."

"I know, I just feel different today I guess. . . I can't really explain what is going on with me, I am just thinking about so many things that involve her and—"

"It sounds like you're love," Joyce said interrupting Chloe who just stared at her mother in silence. "I mean really in love. Have you talked to Max about any of this?"

"No, I guess I hadn't really thought about it until today," Chloe said as she glanced towards the job board.

"So you're feelings are growing then it sounds like. There is nothing wrong with that, but maybe you should talk to Max about it. I'm sure this bright future you are painting for her is only bright because you are a part of it."

Chloe remained silent for a moment thinking of that promise to stay with her forever. She smiled at the thought, "I know you're right. I just… I guess I don't know where this came from."

"Well don't let it get to you, that girl loves you and I think it's pretty obvious how you are feeling about her now. If you ever need to talk about things, I'll always be here," Joyce said as she gave Chloe a hug. Even though this conversation was short, it felt amazing to be able to talk with her daughter like this. It seemed Max was having an effect on Chloe and Joyce couldn't be happier.

"Thanks mom," Chloe said as she pulled away and glanced towards the job postings.

Joyce just smiled, there was something different about Chloe right now. She couldn't quite place it, but she couldn't help but think that there was a spark of something that she hadn't seen in a long time.

"You should bring Max back here later and look together. You never know, you could end up working together. There is plenty of jobs to do here and there are a bunch that are paying, especially for the people who previously lived here. You and Max shouldn't have any trouble finding something."

"I'll be sure to tell her when she wakes up."

"It isn't much, but it's better than nothing and who knows, maybe in a little while you will have enough to get out of here for a bit. Lord knows I could use a vacation from this town."

Chloe thought about the tornado for a moment before nodding, "I think we all do."

"I couldn't agree more, you just be sure to tell her when she wakes up. I have to get back to work, I'll talk to you soon," Joyce said before leaving Chloe at the board.

Chloe just simply looked across the papers posted for a moment before grabbing one and folding it up so it would fit in her pocket. She was too hungry to sit and look for jobs, she figured it would be better to look later anyways. It would be amazing to be able to work with Max.

 **About twenty minutes later. . .**

Chloe carefully pushed the door open with her foot trying hard not to drop anything she was carrying which was probably too much. She also didn't want to wake Max by making any noise. When she finally entered the room she quietly went over to Max's desk and set the tray down she been carrying with everything she got which was stuff for her and Max.

She glanced towards Max quick who was still out cold before shutting the door and making her way back to Max's desk and putting her headphones on. She figured she could play some games or something on the computer while she waited for Max to wake back up. Then again, she might just eat and lay back down with her, she hadn't decided yet.

She took a bite of her food before noticing a folder on Max's desktop simply titled me. Chloe raised her eyebrow before clicking on the folder and seeing a bunch of pictures of Max show up. Chloe smiled a little at them, it would be like Max to take selfies with her laptops camera. The thing that really caught her eye though was the date on a couple of them and the expression on Max's face.

Chloe opened up a few of the pictures, she could tell most of them were taken right where she was sitting. There was something in these pictures that was missing now though, an expression that Chloe had longed to see. She seemed so carefree, like nothing in the world mattered.

Chloe smiled as she looked through the pictures, she wished she could see Max like this again.

"What are you doing?"

Chloe quickly closed the folder before turning around in her chair and seeing Max looking over towards her with one eye still closed.

"I was just playing a game," Chloe lied as Max rubbed her eyes. "Do you want some breakfast? I brought some for you and me."

Max yawned, "yea, just give me a minute to wake up a little."

Chloe just nodded before turning back to her computer to make sure the folder was closed, she couldn't resist renaming the folder to, "cute dork."

"By the way I checked out that job board while I was getting breakfast. I think I found something we could do if you wanted."

"You looked at the job board?" Max asked curiously as she got out of bed and went over to the tray Chloe had sitting on the desk next to her.

"Yea," Chloe said as she looked down at the floor for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Max asked as Chloe shook her head. "You know I didn't mean anything by that, I was just surprised. I haven't heard you mention anything about it."

"I know you didn't mean anything," Chloe said as she stood up from the chair and gave Max a quick kiss before going and sitting on her bed. "I guess I just got some stuff on my mind."

"The tornado?" Max asked as Chloe shook her head.

"No, not the tornado," Chloe said as she thought for a moment before sighing. "I've been thinking about you all morning."

"Me?" Max asked curiously as she took a bite of one of the donuts Chloe had brought back.

"Yea, I guess I was just thinking what our future is going to be like."

"If last night was any indication, I think it's going to be great," Max joked as she sat down on the bed by Chloe.

Chloe just laughed a little as she laid back in Max's bed, "last night was hella awesome, but that isn't what I meant. I keep thinking about it seriously, like where we will be in ten years."

Max looked at Chloe oddly for a moment, "hopefully we will be in a house of our own. Who knows it could even be here."

"It could be, but how would you handle that and I mean what about me?" Chloe asked as Max noticed the worried tone in Chloe's voice, something wasn't right.

"What about you?" Max asked as Chloe shrugged.

"I don't know, I just, where will I be?" Chloe asked as Max looked at her confused, this didn't sound like the girl she had been with the past few days.

"You will be with me…Won't you?" Max asked as Chloe put a hand to her eyes. "Chloe what's wrong?"

"I'm just worried that I'll get left behind, Max. I know we made that promise, but things change and. . . I love you, Max. I love you so damn much that it's hurting me right now and I keep having this fear that one day down the line your life will be better off without me."

"Better off without you?" Max asked as her shoulders slouched a little. "I can't even make it through a day without you right now, Chloe. How would I make it through my life without you? I mean, where is this even coming from, did I do something wrong last night?"

"No," Chloe said firmly as she shook her head. "Last night was probably the best moment of my life, Max. I don't ever want to lose that and. . . Ugh fuck this. Max, I am falling for you so hard right now. The reason I looked at that job board was because I wanted to better myself for you. You're in school, your relationship with your family isn't messed up, and you have a bright future ahead of you. I couldn't even stay in school, my life is fucked, and honestly I fear the moment you realize that."

"Shut up," Max said as she shook her head. "I'm no better than you and I never will be. To be honest, yes, I wish you'd stop hanging out with these creeps and I would love if you could just drop the drugs. You're talking like you are a smudge on my perfect life, but I'm not perfect and I don't believe that a single person is better than any other."

"I'm not saying you are, I just—"

Max put a finger on Chloe's lips to silence her.

"I wasn't done," Max said as she took a deep breath. "The truth is I've thought about the future too and honestly. . . I picked you over an entire fucking town, Chloe. If we ever broke up, I. . . I don't even want to think about what that could mean. I never want to think about it, especially right now. Last night was...wowzers and this morning I only love you more than I did yesterday. I get what you're saying, but if I cared about that in the first place I wouldn't have stuck around. Chloe, I love you because you are you. You're smart, you're funny, you're cute, you're caring, and you have completely taken my heart."

"You're just saying that because you are my girlfriend," Chloe sighed breaking the heartfelt moment causing Max to smile.

"Of course, I am," Max said as she leaned her head against Chloe's. "Don't you get it, you're all those things to me, I don't care what other people think of you. I love you and that is never changing."

"I'm sorry," Chloe said with a sigh as Max's smile widened before she gave Chloe that heartfelt kiss that seemed appropriate at the time.

"Don't be, I'm glad you were able to tell me. The last thing I want is for you to be weighed down by things that aren't even a problem."

"But there is a problem. . . I'm falling so hard for you and I just feel like I need to do something about it. Like I want to start doing things together, but we're stuck here in Arcadia Bay and. . ."

"Would it make you feel better if we checked out that job board?" Max asked curiously as Chloe shrugged. "I know what you're feeling, trust me, I wish we were away from all of this right now and just living life together, but we aren't. To be honest, I don't know if I can leave here right now, I still feel responsible and it only seems right that I help out the town as much as I can."

"I hate this place," Chloe said as she looked to Max. "I always just wanted it to go away, but now that it's gone, I feel the same. Something about the idea of just leaving doesn't sit right with me. Not right now at least."

"I think we should go look at it then, it would be a really good reason for me to stay after all. If they pay we could save some money up and get out of here one day. We could work towards leaving this all behind us, but I'm only going to do it if you promise me that you'll always be with me as the girl I love not just a friend."

"I already told you I'm never leaving you," Chloe said as she glanced over to Max. "I'm just feeling things I've never felt before and it's making me think about things I've never thought about before. I hope that makes sense."

"You're not as bad as conveying your feelings as you think you are," Max said as Chloe sighed.

"If you tell anyone I said anything like this, I will have kill you."

"I'm just saying, it makes me really happy that you are able to tell me things like this."

"Well maybe this mushy stuff isn't so bad, it's pretty great being able to tell someone how much you love them."

Max smiled before giving Chloe a kiss on the cheek. "It's even better that I get to tell you how much I love you, which is a lot."

"You're a dork," Chloe said with a quick glance to her girlfriend who just immediately took the opportunity to give her a quick surprising kiss.

"I'm you're dork," Max said as she stood to her feet. "I'm going to take a quick shower, then we can go check out that board. Don't eat my breakfast either, I'm coming back for it."

"I'm going to lick everything on that tray," Chloe said sticking her tongue out at Max.

"I don't care, I'll still eat it. It's not like I'm afraid of your cooties," Max said as she grabbed her shower supplies. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello, so i don't think I've ever really talked about who I think Chloe actually is. This chapter really sums up how I feel about her and the reason this chapter is mostly about her and her feeligns is because I feel it's important for the future of this relationship that I am working on here. Chloe is generally seen (in my opinion) as this character that is suppost to be a "bad girl" who has no care of the rules and yada yada. Going back to the past though in the game shows her in a different light however, you get to see what she was like when she was little and then again if her dad had lived. She was nothing like she now in either cases and quite honestly I believe that person still exists. I like to think that Max is the key to bringing that part of her back to life. Basically giving her a reason to care if you want to put it in a few words.

I hope this idea has been apparent throughout this story and my other stories, I know it's present in Caught Together. By the way i do plan on finishing that story, I just kind of got really involved in this story and am loving it. I really hope you liked this story and thank you again for all the reviews and everything honestly, it's absolutely amazing to see the support!


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Hello everyone, I am terribly sorry for the delay on this chapter. I made this one about double the length of a normal chapter to try and make up for it. The reason for the delay simply put is that school kind of got crazy and then there was Thanksgiving. I have had 2 big presentations this past two weeks, a math test, and now I am moving into my finals week with an android application w/ presentation due Monday and my big math final on Thursday. That being said, do not expect the next chapter this week. I didn't want to leave you all in the dark for too long, so that is what is going on with me. Hopefully you like this chapter, I have been getting a ton of feedback and I wanted I am sorry for not being able to get to all the things people have been pointing out to me.

* * *

Max turned the water on and put her hand under not wanting to fully stand under it until it had warmed up enough. Her thoughts were clouded by Chloe right now as she absentmindedly held her hand under the water. It just didn't' seem real that Chloe was expressing herself like that to her, but it really made Max understand how much Chloe truly cared for her. She couldn't help but smile a little bit as her thoughts moved to the previous night, it was a first for her and apparently Chloe.

She wondered when the next time would be that they were able to do that and if it would be different. She herself had been experiencing some of what Chloe was and until now she hadn't even thought of Chloe leaving her, she had felt that everything was going great. Even though what happened to the town still stuck with her she couldn't help but feel super happy. She felt terrible about this, she had seen what happened out there, but Chloe was more than that to her.

Chloe right now was literally her entire world and that fact made it hard for her not to smile.

"Is this one taken?" A voice said as Max jumped to attention and spun around quickly covering herself as the shower curtain opened.

"What are you doing!? Shut the curtain, I'm naked!" Max said a little louder than she had realized as Chloe did as she was instructed, but instead stepped inside the shower before closing the curtain.

"Calm down, you're the only one in here," Chloe said as Max looked at her with wide eyes still questioning what she was doing with only the look on her face. "This probably wasn't the best idea. I just figured…"

"Not the best idea?" Max asked as she felt Chloe's eyes look her over quick. "This is a horr—" Max went silent as she heard the door to the showers open and close.

"This was a horrible idea," Max whispered as they heard someone pull a shower curtain aside.

"I'll just leave quick it's no big deal," Chloe whispered to her before she started turning only to feel Max grab her arm.

"If you leave and then I leave later they are going to know," Max whispered as she noticed the blush on Chloe's face. She had forgotten she was nude when she grabbed Chloe's arm to stop her. When she realized what Chloe was looking at she quickly covered herself again.

"Sorry," Chloe said realizing she herself was staring. "I can leave quietly though, they'll never know."

Max sighed before blushing a little herself, "no, you've made your choice." She really was afraid of others knowing, but at the same time the thought of what was coming next was hard for Max to resist. She was nervous, partially because of her current situation, but watching Chloe shrug before removing her clothes made her heart race.

"Can't keep your eyes off me?" Chloe asked noticing the way Max's eyes were moving with every piece of clothing that came off.

Max quickly turned around hiding the blush on her face as she took a deep breath and tried to pay attention to the water raining down on her.

"I can see your butt," Chloe said a minute later as Max's blush intensified and she quickly tried to cover it which got a chuckle out of Chloe. "You're really cute when you're shy Maxine Caulfield."

Max was about to say something when she felt Chloe wrap her arms around her stomach effectively blocking the words from ever escaping. It wasn't until she felt Chloe close that Max realized Chloe had finished stripping.

"Cat got your tongue?" Chloe asked with a devilish grin as she felt Max tense for a moment.

"N-No," Max breathed as she felt Chloe kiss the base of her neck.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Chloe whispered in Max's ear, this would be a big step from last night.

* * *

 **About twenty minutes later. . .**

Max looked at herself in the mirror for a second pulling back the grey hoody she had on. Once she saw what she was looking for she readjusted herself so the hoody looked natural.

"Chloe you can still see it," Max said as she turned to Chloe who was putting her shoes on.

"So put your hood up."

"Yea because it's so natural to walk around with your hood up indoors. We are going to look at jobs, I don't want them thinking I'm there to rob them," Max explained as Chloe smiled for a moment.

"Max the thug strikes again!"

Max frowned at her but unfortunately Chloe was laughing too hard to notice. "It's not funny," Max said looking back at the mirror and putting her hood up. She sighed realizing this would be the only way to cover the mark, "I hope it's freezing outside."

"I hope it's not, I want the world to know you're mine," Chloe said as Max looked at her in the mirror. "If that's the case let's go show Joyce."

The smile left Chloe's face immediately at the mention of her mother, Max could tell the thought hadn't crossed her mind. "I'll tell her I hit you."

"Abusive girlfriend after just a short time? I'm sure your mom would love to hear that," Max said as she turned to Chloe who sighed.

"It's better than sitting through a speech about whatever it is she would talk about. You would be dragged into it too as a loving and responsible girlfriend," Chloe said as Max squinted at her. "Alright, the shower thing wasn't the best idea, but it was hella hot."

"It's a shower, they are supposed to be hot," Max quickly replied with a small smirk.

Chloe just blinked once or twice before smiling herself and shaking her head, "I am in love with the biggest dork in Arcadia Bay."

"What can I say, I'm into bad girls, they can't resist me," Max said as if it were no big deal.

"Thug and a player," Chloe said before shaking her head. "Nah, I'm just going to say you're the biggest dork, but you're my dork and I love you. Now let's go check out that job board."

* * *

 **A few minutes later. . .**

Chloe sighed with her back against the wall right next to Max's dorm room door. She found herself looking at her phone quick before knocking on Max's door again.

"Max hurry up, they'll all be gone by the time you come out," Chloe said before listening for a moment, she was left with silence.

"That's weird if I recall right you both already came out."

Chloe sighed at the voice as she turned her head with an unamused look. "What do you want, Victoria?"

"I'm just going back to my room, but it's always nice to see how the local dykes are doing."

"To think Max was trying to convince me you were only a bitch most of the time," Chloe said as she pushed off the wall just as Max's door opened and she stepped out.

"What's going on?" Max asked noticing the annoyed look on Chloe and Victoria's face.

"Trying to enjoy my life, unfortunately, Victoria showed up," Chloe sighed as Victoria rolled her eyes.

"Why do you have your hood up? Don't tell me this is some new fashion thing you're trying, because it's not working."

Max blushed a little as she looked to Chloe was still giving Chloe a dirty look.

"Oh, I forgot it was up," Max said as casually as she could before lowering it and looking away from Victoria

Victoria looked at her weird before noticing the mark, "so that is why you had your hood up, it wasn't your terrible fashion sense."

"Don't you have things you need to do?" Chloe asked as Victoria looked her. "Oh right, you're nobody just like the rest of us, mommy and daddy do all the work, you just get the rewards."

"My rewards are much better than being poor and having no future."

Max quickly grabbed for Chloe's arm stopping her from taking a step towards Victoria, "Chloe this isn't the type of problem we need."

Chloe glanced back to Max for a moment before taking a deep breath and nodding. She wanted to say something, but she knew nothing good would come of it.

"I really wish you would just leave us alone, for trash that has no place in your world you sure do like to comment on our lives."

"That is what happens when your money does all your thinking for you," Chloe said as Victoria's expression turned sour.

"Let's go," Max said taking that as her queue to leave with Chloe. As much as she wanted to let Chloe go after Victoria, she knew it would turn out bad. Victoria would do everything in her power to make their lives a living hell if Chloe ever touched her.

She didn't want that, she was looking towards the future just as much as Chloe was. This was a time where she seriously wished she could just let Chloe go and use her rewind power, but she was never going to risk anyone again, especially Chloe.

Victoria just simply snapped a picture of them, "the world is going to know you two are lesbians this time tomorrow!"

Max cringed slightly at how loud Victoria shouted it before slamming her dorm room door.

"Well it's not the end of the world, the people that need to know already know," Max reasoned as they left the dorms. "It'll probably be good anyway, that way no one will try and take you from me."

Chloe nodded, she was still pretty annoyed by Victoria, "I don't really care, I just want that bitch to be put in her place."

"One day she will be," Max replied with a smile.

"Hopefully soon," Chloe said thinking of terrible things that could happen to Victoria.

"I wonder what's going on," Max asked curiously after entering the main building with Chloe.

"Looks like the news crew is setting up for a story," Chloe said as they looked around for a moment, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "The job board is just over here."

"Hey, I've been looking for you," a man said as Max and Chloe looked over towards the voice. They were surprised when the man was looking at them, more specifically Chloe.

"M-Me?" Chloe asked as the man nodded and approached her with the photo's she had given the news team.

Max glanced down to the pictures in his hand before looking up to Chloe who knew she was in trouble.

"I can explain," Chloe said as the man shook his head not catching the small silent interaction between the two.

"You are the girl in these pictures right?" The man asked as Chloe glanced down to them, they were indeed the ones she had given the company.

"Uhh, yea," Chloe answered with a questioning look on her face as Max kept silent.

"These are magnificent, we were trying to find who took them," the man explained as Max looked to Chloe again this time with a completely different expression.

"What do you want from them?" Chloe asked curiously.

"We want more, these pictures are incredible. We're putting together a segment on the storm and would love to be in contact with the photographer."

Chloe looked to Max for a moment with a smile, "it was her. She took those photos."

"You did?" The man asked as Max looked down at the pictures for a moment quick before nodding.

"Y-Yes, I took those pictures," Max answered.

"Who do you work for? These are simply amazing."

"I don't have a job, I go to... Err, I went to school here before the storm."

"Oh? What are you doing now then?"

"We were just going to look at the job board," Chloe answered hoping she could be that confidence that Max seemed to be lacking right now.

"You're looking for a job? Would you be interested in working for us? We could use a photographer of your skill and I assure you we pay more than what they are offering here."

"I. . . I…"

Chloe squeezed Max's hand for encouragement.

"That would be great," Max said as the man smiled.

"Great, we just need you to fill out some paperwork and I'll get you in contact with the station. We'll make sure you get paid for these photo's also, you're going to have a bright future with photography like this."

"I'll go find my mom, you go do what you need to do," Chloe said as Max gave her a quick smile before leaving her side and following the guy over to where they had setup their equipment.

Chloe looked towards the job board for a moment before deciding it could wait. She made her way to where her mother was staying and saw that David was there with her.

"Good morning," Joyce said as Chloe glanced to David for a moment before looking at her mother and giving a nod of her head.

"Hey."

"Where is Max?" Joyce asked curiously as Chloe smiled a little.

"She has something going on right now, I'll tell you about it later."

"You got time to talk then?" David asked as Chloe looked to her mother quick and took a deep breath when she saw that look that said it was going to happen eventually.

She scratched her head before taking a seat, "yea, I got time to talk. I'm not breaking up with her though if that is what you're about to tell me."

"That will not be happening," Joyce said as she looked to David who just sighed and nodded.

"I'm not going to ask you to do anything, I just want to know what is going on."

"Max is my girlfriend, that is what's going on," Chloe answered like it was no big deal.

David sighed, "Chloe, I'm not trying to pick a fight. I've already talked with your mother about this a little, we just want to know more."

Chloe sat for a moment thinking before nodding. She had thought about what she told Max earlier, it was all she need to talk more. "What do you want to know?"

Joyce smiled, a cooperative Chloe was something she could get used to.

"Why don't you start with yourself, it's obvious you've fallen for Max."

"Myself?" Chloe asked looking between them, she suddenly regretted the idea of agreeing to this. "I don't know, I guess I just like Max."

"Like I said, that is pretty obvious."

"Do Max's parents know what is going on between you two?" David asked as Chloe nodded.

"We told them last night on the phone… Well, Max did, but I was there the whole time with her," Chloe explained as she thought about it for a moment. "Max is staying in Arcadia Bay, we are going to look at the job board today."

"So you talked with her about it?" Joyce asked as Chloe nodded.

"That's good," David said with a smile of his own as Chloe glanced up to him. "There is plenty of things to do out here, if you need any help, just ask."

Chloe remained silent for a moment, was David being nice to her? She couldn't make sense of this attitude change if she tried.

"Have you told anyone else about your relationship?" Joyce asked as Chloe shook her head before looking back at her.

"We haven't really told anyone else, except… Well there is a few people who know," Chloe said with a slightly displeased tone at the end.

"Someone giving you trouble?" David asked as Chloe sighed and shook her head.

"Nothing I can't handle. There is just someone who found out and always feels the need to tell us what they think."

"Don't you be starting no trouble now, Chloe Price."

"I can't," Chloe said as Joyce raised an eyebrow. "Max won't ever let me and she would totally kill me if I got in trouble."

"Then she is doing her job as your girlfriend, you don't need any more trouble."

"You know she isn't always the saint you make her out to be," Chloe replied as her mother smiled.

"Of course, I'm sure she has learned a thing or two from you."

"Don't think I don't I know that was you two that broke into the pool," David said as Chloe put her hands up in surrender. "It doesn't really matter now."

"No it doesn't and we all did dumb things when we were younger," Joyce reminded David, she had talked with him about speaking to Chloe. She didn't want any arguing if she was going to open up about her relationship.

"We did," David agreed as the room fell silent for a moment.

"So how did the phone call with her parents go?"

"Well Max was nervous, like really nervous. Things turned out alright though, she talked to them for quite a while, they were pretty surprised."

"I know that feeling," David commented as Chloe glanced up to him for a second.

"We both do. The last thing I was expecting to hear is that through all of this you found love, especially in Maxine Caulfield. You two have always been close, but I didn't realize how close."

"Did someone say my name?" Max asked as all three of them turned towards Max who had just approached them.

"Chloe was just telling us how much she loves you," Joyce teased as Max blushed a little causing her to laugh. "We were just talking about you two being together."

Max instantly glanced up to David who noticed right away.

"Everything is fine," David reassured her as Max smiled a little. "I won't stand here and tell you that I don't have concerns, but so far this has been a good thing and Chloe is happy."

"We're both happy," Max said as she took Chloe's hand.

"Hella happy," Chloe said thinking of the night before and the job offer Max just had.

"Max why do you have your hood up?" Joyce asked curiously as Max's face turned red. Joyce immediately look at Chloe who had that deer in the headlights look about her for a moment before straightening up.

"I have. . . My hair is wet and it is a little cold is all," Max said as Joyce looked at her funny for a moment.

"So how exactly did this come about?" David asked curiously, which made both of them very happy. The last thing they wanted was the hickey exposed to her mother.

"I guess it's always kind of been there," Chloe started as she thought about the time before Max left. Joyce didn't seem to be paying attention to Max anymore now that Chloe was talking. "When I found out she was back in town, all these emotions just hit me. I didn't really think about them too much, I especially didn't want her to know. It may have been obvious when I dared you to kiss me though."

Max blushed a little at the memory, "I totally did though, you didn't think I would."

"No, but I was hella surprised when you did. I think it was then that I really started crushing on you hard."

"I was already there," Max admitted as Joyce smiled.

"Sounds like the tornado brought you both together in a way," Joyce said trying to make light of a bad situation.

Max remained silent for a moment as she felt Chloe squeeze her hand tight.

"I guess it made me realize that I wouldn't have forever to tell her how I felt," Chloe said as a simple answer.

"It was horrible what happened, I won't ever forget it, but if I would have lost Chloe I don't think I could have gone on."

"I don't think I could either, Max." Joyce said to try and comfort Max, she didn't realize what Max was really getting at tough. "We survived the worst, but even then, something wonderful came from it."

Chloe sighed, "please, no."

"Chloe, love is a wonderful thing and it's obvious you two are in love. Max is making quite the good impression on the parents too."

"Kill me," Chloe said as she covered her face with her hands for a second before standing. "On second thought, I think we had something we needed to do today."

"Probably something super urgent and important, I bet."

"Yes, actually," Chloe replied to her mother as she took Max's hand.

"Thank you for talking with us, Chloe, I'm happy for you and Max," David said as Max stood up.

"Thank you," Chloe said simply which still felt awkward. This got a quick smile from Max before turning to leave. She knew her mother was right, but she still wasn't a fan of talking solely about her and Max, especially about their feelings for each other. She hadn't entirely wanted to do it in the first place, but it was a weight off her chest now that her mom and David knew.

"That seemed to go well," Max said as soon as they were leaving the main building hand in hand.

"A lot better than I thought it would. Step-douche didn't even give me a big lecture. Mom must have talked some sense into him. . . Who cares about that though, what happened with the news crew? You got the job right?"

"I care, Chloe. That isn't easy to do, especially when you have someone like David as your stepdad. It may sound stupid, but it makes me happy knowing that your parents are alright with us together."

Chloe frowned a little, "I'm happy too, Max, but I think that job offer is a little more exciting. So are you going to spill it or am I going to have to get it out of you in a different way."

Max smiled, "first I think someone needs to explain how they got those photos, and second, I won't argue different methods."

"You probably wouldn't believe that you dropped them by the news guy and when I went to grab them he asked if he could have them would you?"

"No, and if I recall correctly, those pictures were yours," Max said stopping as they neared Chloe's truck.

Chloe just simply sighed as she turned to face Max never letting go of her hand. "Alright, listen, those pictures are hella amazing, Max. People needed to see those and the news is a good way to get word out. I just thought it would be good for you, you're too talented to not be working as a photographer."

"Thanks," Max said with a small smile, she usually wasn't very fond of getting praise, but from Chloe it felt different. "I'm a bit nervous about this job, I don't know if I can deliver, but I showed them some more pictures and they seemed interested. If it wasn't you, none of this would be happening. I know, I've already said I love you today, but I really do love you."

Chloe smiled before leaning towards Max and giving her a quick kiss uncaring if anyone saw them. They only got a few looks from the people in the parking lot which was quite busy with all the people now coming and going, but for some reason, Max didn't really care. It didn't embarrass her or make her uneasy that people were staring.

"You'll go way beyond their expectations, you're pictures are awesome Max. The other thing is how cool is it that you're actually a paid photographer now!"

Max rolled her eyes at Chloe's excitement, she seemed more excited about this opportunity than her. "It's pretty cool," Max admitted with a small smile still on her face as the two separated and climbed into the truck. "Let's just not tell everyone alright?"

"My lips are sealed, I won't tell a soul," Chloe said as she faked zipping her lips shut with a hand before starting the truck. "It won't matter soon though, you're pictures will be in the paper and everyone is going to see your work."

"I know, but they can ask me if they want, you know I don't like having a lot of attention on me. . . Besides they're going to see you too, you know," Max said as Chloe raised an eyebrow. "The guy who hired me said the picture they were most interested in was you on your house. I'm glad too, because that was my favorite one."

"I liked that one too. It will also be the first time I'll be in the paper for something my mom won't kill me for," Chloe explained as she looked to Max who just bit her bottom lip for a moment thinking about the paper, Chloe could see something was on her mind.

"About the paper. . ." Max trailed off as Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Alright, don't be mad, but I may have mentioned you were my girlfriend. They wanted to know more about the girl in the picture, and I told them that you were my girlfriend. They asked if I wanted that in the photos caption and…I said yes."

"I'm going to be in the paper listed as your girlfriend?" Chloe asked as Max paused for a moment before nodding. "That is hella awesome, but everyone is going to know now. You basically just came out to anyone who gets that paper."

"I'm sure Victoria has already told literally everyone. I don't even want to check my messages online."

"That is alright, I won't have to worry about any guys hitting on you now."

Max rolled her eyes, she never would have guessed Chloe could be the jealous type until they were together. "It's not like I had a line of guys waiting to get my number. I wasn't exactly voted the best looking girl at school you know."

"Everyone around here must be blind then, but that's alright, I don't want anyone but me checking you out."

"Quite the romantic," Max sighed as Chloe smiled. "So where are we going anyways?"

"I figured we could get out of Arcadia Bay for a day, go someplace nearby, just me and you."

"That sounds like a date," Max said as Chloe thought about it for a moment before shrugging.

"Alright, fine, then I'm taking you on a date in celebration of your new life," Chloe said before leaning over quickly and kissing Max on the cheek. "Once everyone sees those pictures, you're going to be wanted all over the place."

Max smiled at the thought before shaking it out of her head, "then before I become super famous let's enjoy a day without people trying to take my picture."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alrighty, I hope you liked it, the first thing I want to talk about is that I have been doing this chapter in very small sections over the past few weeks. I tried to go back and touch up a few spots so I am sorry if something doesn't make sense. I think I got them all though! Anyways, this chapter kind of had a lot happen, David finally got a voice and he probably wasn't what a lot were expecting. I originally had this idea of him being super against it and upset, but the more it thought about David and his reaction in my previous chapters, the more he became more accepting. In my eyes David wants to have a normal family and Chloe being Chloe is just something he has to accept. Chloe has to accept him also though and the way I think that process begins is by having him not tell her she is doing wrong. Joyce obviously had a lot to do with his calm attitude during this scenario. To be completely honest, I don't like writing David much, I haven't given him too much though so when I write him he seems kind of neutral I think.

I would normally type more but it is 2:40 AM here and I am dead tired. If you have any questions, please PM me!


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Hello so I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a great New Years. I have been busy with family stuff like I'm sure many of you had and also final before that. I wanted to get this chapter like Monday or Tuesday, but I had a computer problem so I decided to finally put in my SSD and reinstall windows. Everything was going good until Wed or so when my keyboard stopped working. . . Anyways, things are good now and I'm pretty broke, but anyways, I just finished this chapter and wanted to put it out before I go to sleep, it's 3:32 AM here and I'm dying. As always, I hope you enjoy the story!

* * *

Chloe glanced over to Max who had fallen asleep on their drive home, it had been a long day out. They had driven about an hour or so out of Arcadia Bay to get away from it all. Max had considered it a date and Chloe could only smile at that fact. She had originally just intended for them to celebrate everything that had happened between them the past few days whether it was telling their parents or Max getting this job. Chloe just wanted to be happy for a day and though Max was able to make her that way in Arcadia Bay, she desperately wanted to forget the horrible truth about the town.

She couldn't help but frown a little when she saw Max holding herself so tightly as she leaned against the passenger seat window sleeping. It was around ten at night right now and the temperature had dropped considerably. Chloe turned the heat up in the truck before finding a spot to pull over and take her jacket off.

She carefully pulled Max towards her until she was laying down with her head resting on Chloe's leg. The final touch was draping her jacket over Max as best she could. She smiled when Max seemed to react slightly to the new warmth.

"I have to be the luckiest person ever to have someone like you," Chloe whispered as she ran her fingers through Max's hair ever so gently. She had thoughts again of their future for a moment, they brought a smile to her face as she checked the heat again before looking to get back on the road. They still had about fifty minutes until they were back at Blackwell.

Every now and again Chloe found herself glancing down to Max and smiling as the girl slept soundly. She didn't have that troubled look that Chloe had been used to seeing so much of lately. She could only imagine the excitement of Max's job offer was beating out those horrid thought she still knew Max had.

"Maxine Caulfield, photography expert," Chloe said just to hear what it sounded like. She smiled for a moment before frowning a little. Is that what Max really was now? She glanced down to her once again for a brief moment before looking back up to the road.

Max really was working as a photographer now which in Chloe's head meant she was an expert. She was going to make the big bucks with her photos and get hella famous. Chloe felt a pang in her heart as she thought about a future where Max would leave her to follow her dreams. She imagined seeing Max with packed bags turning to leave a house and shutting the door leaving her there alone.

She wiped the tear out of her eye before glancing back down to Max for a moment. The image was painful, but Chloe knew she would let her leave if it came to it. Max's job would put her way out of Chloe's league and she was no stranger to being alone.

"Hey what's wrong?"

Chloe glanced down to Max who was looking up at her, she hadn't realized she had let a tear fall which had woken Max. She quickly wiped her eye and took a deep breath before shaking her head.

"Nothing, I guess I just got some stuff on my mind," Chloe said keeping her eyes on the road as Max sat up and yawned.

"What kind of stuff?" Max asked curiously, it wasn't like Chloe to cry.

"Just stuff," Chloe said avoiding the question as max frowned.

"Did something happen?" Max asked as she glanced to the clock, she had been asleep for about thirty minutes she gathered.

"Nothing happened, Max and everything is fine. I was just. . . I don't know," Chloe said, she had thought about telling her she was thinking about her dad. She couldn't do that though, her father's life was much more than just an excuse to her.

"Is it about the job I got?" Max asked as Chloe glanced over to her quick with surprise written all over her face before straightening up and looking back at the road. The silence didn't help Chloe's case here as Max figured that was the issue.

"Why are you upset over the job?" Max asked curiously as Chloe sighed, she wondered if Max had picked up mind reading along with rewinding.

"I'm not," Chloe answered simply as max thought for a moment.

"Then what is bothering you about it?"

"Nothing, Max," Chloe said a little more defensive than she meant to. "Sorry," she responded quickly with a sigh, "I just worry you'll forget where you came from that's all."

"Forget where I came from?"

Chloe tapped her thumb on the steering wheel and leaned her head against the window for a moment. "What I mean is, I just don't want you to forget about me…or us, or any of this."

"How would getting a job make me forget about you?"

Chloe remained silent for a moment, it was clear to her that Max was not understanding her point. It was obvious to her right now that she had more confidence than Max did in her abilities.

"It won't, I hope," Chloe said as that picture of Max leaving came back into her mind for a moment. "I just know the world is going to love your pictures."

"You're coming with," Max quickly added cutting Chloe's thought off. "If that happens which I doubt will, you will be there with me. I don't know why you are worrying so much lately, I promised I would be with you forever and it wasn't because you made me that promise. I promised you because I love you, Chloe."

After a moments silence and time to think Max sighed heavily, "to be honest I wonder why you like me sometimes. I'm just a dork with a pretty boring life and apparently horrible taste in clothing. I try not think about that though because I know you see past that, you're special, Chloe. When I think of the future, I only see us together and happy. I think about a wedding and other things that I've never really given much thought too before."

"A wedding?" Chloe asked in surprise. She had thought about a bright future together too, but it was nice hearing Max talk about things Chloe had only dreamed about.

"I know it's still early in our relationship and I'm not going to rush it, I just thought about it I guess. I mean I've thought about a lot of things that could happen with us," Max said trying to cover it up a little now feeling the embarrassment. "I mean it's not really a big deal, I don't think you have even thought about it. Weddings don't really seem like your style and I'm not going to force you to do something that you don't want to do."

"You're wrong," Chloe said with a small frown, she realized though why Max would say that, she really didn't seem like the type that was into weddings. "I mean, I'm not really into other people's weddings, but our own," she paused before smiling a little, "I've thought about our wedding and how awesome it would be."

"You have?" Max asked curiously, she didn't expect to hear anything like this from Chloe.

Chloe felt that same embarrassment that Max had just moments ago, "yea, I mean I've thought about what it would be like. It just seems like something that should happen eventually. I want it to happen too. I just get afraid when I think about our individual futures. I don't have much going for me and you've got everything going for you. You've got an awesome job starting now and…"

"…and I wouldn't have it if it weren't for you," Max said before Chloe could continue. "The only thing I have been thinking of is what we are going to be doing in the future."

Chloe smiled, there was something that made her happy about Max not allowing her to feel down.

"Our future is going to be awesome and we'll always be together. This job will only help us get to that future we want faster."

Chloe sighed as she looked to Max feeling all those feelings that only Max could bring out in her. "I wish I knew how you could always make me feel like this. . . I love you, Max, and I'll try not to worry so much, I'm just super hopeful for your future."

Max smiled, "everything will work out, but nothing will change what we have."

-X-X-

Max took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and thought about her day out with Chloe. It had been a bit unexpected, especially the whole job part, but spending the entire day with Chloe out doing something fun was amazing. Now that they were back at the dorms Max had taken another shower and this time had gotten Chloe to agree not to come in while she was there.

She hadn't entirely minded that Chloe had entered with her, but she still thought it was risky especially since the dorm was so busy with all the extra traffic from the storm. It was odd to her that she hadn't given much thought to the people around the school lately. She knew they were victims of her storm, but for some reason it wasn't bothering her as much. She could only imagine it was because the people she knew and cared about were alive and well. There were times when she would wonder who didn't make it, it made her feel horrible that she hadn't given them much thought.

She sighed thinking about how much of a monster she was. She looked at her hand for a moment before remembering tearing the picture up. She made sure at that moment that she wasn't going back. All those lives that were now gone weren't coming back, she had made sure of it.

 _Bzzt. . . Bzzt. . ._

Max's eyes opened as she heard the phone lying next to her head start buzzing, she quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head when she saw it was her mother.

"Hello," Max answered as she sat up in her bed and looked around, Chloe was still in the shower no doubt.

"Hey, you're not busy are you?" Her mother asked curiously as Max shook her head even if her mother wouldn't' see it.

"No, I'm just sitting in my room, Chloe is taking a shower right now. We were gone all day, we just got back about an hour ago. "

"What were you two doing all day?" Her mother asked curiously as Max smiled.

"Chloe brought me on a date to celebrate something that happened this morning," Max said with a hint of excitement.

"Celebrate? What happened?"

Max's smile grew a little brighter, "I got a job."

"A job?" Her mother asked in a surprised tone. "What type of job? When did you even apply?"

"I uhh, didn't really," Max said as she scratched back of her head. "Chloe got it for me."

"Chloe got it for you? What type of job is it?"

"Uhh. . . I'm a photographer for a news station."

"What!? Are you serious?"

Max couldn't hold back the smile on her face if she tried. She could hear the shock and excitement in her mother's voice.

"Yes, I'm serious," Max confirmed still smiling brightly.

"Oh my gosh, that is awesome, I'm so proud of you," her mother said before calming herself a little. "I think a little explanation is needed though… Your father is going to be so happy for you!"

Max chuckled at her mother's excitement, "well there isn't much to tell really. I gave Chloe some of my pictures because she really liked them. I found out this morning that she had brought them to the news people that have been on campus the past few days. We ran into them this morning and apparently they were impressed because they offered me a job on the spot."

"That is great! They gave you a job right on the spot? They must have loved your pictures."

"Yea, he said they were great and his boss loved them. I guess they were trying to find Chloe again because they wanted more. We were going to look for a job at the school, but this is a bit better I think. Chloe decided we could celebrate by heading out of town for the day."

"I've always liked Chloe she was a great friend and so far she seems to be making a pretty great girlfriend."

Max blushed a little, "great is an understatement. I can't even describe how she makes me feel."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright so there it is! This chapter again focused on Chloe's insecurities, but I think I made some progress on Max's views with this and then I got to focus on Max a little more later since it's been all about Chloe lately. That being said I didn't do a love scene in this even though it's obvious that it happened. Anyways, I don't have much else to say about this chapter. I still don't know how I'm going to pull the ending off for this story because I feel like I could have already given them a happily ever after. That being said the main reason I started writing fan fiction is because I wanted more and I started this story with a specific way of ending it. The reason I bring this all up is because that ending is getting close, but like all of my stories, I don't plan chapters out, I just start writing and see where it takes me. So I'm sorry if I repeat things here and there. I try not to, but seriously if I forget something I have to go back and read through the story again to find it. Horrible process, I know, but I just do this for fun and because I love making my own stories. Maybe one day I'll take some time and do it in a better way. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I will be writing some this week and then crying because my last semester of college starts and it's a huge one!


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Hey, so believe it or not I forgot to post this, it's been done for about 5 or so days, I'm actually halfway through the next chapter as I'm typing this and I just kind of realized it. I will be working on it and hopefully have it next week. I just wanted to update everyone on my status also as I know I haven't been as active. It's simply just due to school. I have a very big semester with and internship and a capstone project along with normal classes and work. I'm sure some of you can relate to this. It basically just means I don't have nearly as much time as I have had, but I'm going to keep writing and try and get them out in a timely manner. I know I'm about 2 weeks or so per chapter at the moment which in my head is horrible. I would love to have them out faster, but there are various reasons I don't and I won't go into them here. PM me if you're interested. I just wanted to take a second and update everyone. I may put out some one shots, but my only priority fan fiction wise is this story right now, so don't worry, I'm not leaving it if I post a one shot unrelated to this story.

* * *

 **A few days later. . .**

Max pressed the next button repeatedly as she went through the pictures she had been asked to take that day. The assignment was simple enough she thought, they just wanted her to head to a few spots in town and take some photos. Once she had a bunch she would bring them back to the news station and someone in a higher position would sort through them and pick which they wanted to use.

"These all suck," Max sighed as she looked away from the camera and shook her head. Her nerves about doing good on this first shoot had taken hold of her in a bad way.

"Our ideas of what these suck means is different," Chloe said taking the camera out of Max's hand and flipping through them like Max had been just a second ago. "These are all great, to be honest I think any of these could be used, I don't know why you think these are all bad."

"I don't know they just seem devoid of life."

"Duh, you are taking pictures of a town devastated by a huge tornado, of course they are devoid of life," Chloe pointed out as Max frowned at her. "Alright maybe that wasn't the best thing to say right now, but seriously, these do not suck and they will love them."

Max remained silent for a moment glancing at a few of the pictures as Chloe went through them. "I mean, I guess some of them are alright. Let's just hope the person that has to review them likes them or I may be out of the job faster than I actually got it."

"Don't say that," Chloe said as she handed Max back the camera. "They will like them and if they don't' I'll go have a word with the idiot in charge."

"Yea that is just what I need, a news station photographer on the news trying to stop her crazed girlfriend from beating up a producer."

"I didn't say I was going to beat them up, besides you will do fine. . . You know what, why don't you take my picture. We can look back on this in ten years and laugh when you're a photographer extraordinaire."

Max sighed before taking the camera back from Chloe as she went up against a part of the building that was still standing.

"The lighting is a little dark," Max said as she snapped a picture and then moved a little.

"I'll just sit here and look pretty," Chloe said as she put a foot up on the wall and her hands in her pocket.

"Posing for me now, huh?" Max asked as she took another picture.

"I'll do whatever you want," Chloe said with a smile before looking over to her left at something that caught her eye.

"Perfect."

Chloe looked back at Max, "what did you say?"

Max shook her head before lowering the camera, "nothing, I think I got the pictures I wanted. What do you say we call it a day?"

"Sure, I'm pretty hungry anyways. We can get something and head back to your dorm room, send your pictures in, and then just relax the rest of the night," Chloe said with a smile as she approached Max and started walking back towards her truck with her.

"We need to plan that trip a little bit too, my parents are hoping to have us visit them sooner than later," Max added to their list as Chloe nodded.

"I know, but it's not like it is happening tomorrow or anything and what do we really need to bring?"

"I. . . I don't know, I guess, I just want to be a little prepared at least, it may not be tomorrow, but this weekend is coming fast," Max explained as she climbed in the passenger side of the truck. "We're going to be there for five days about, so we have to figure out what we need for that. Clothes, money. . ."

"I'm going to stop you right there," Chloe said interrupting Max as she started the truck. "You're overthinking this, we just need _some_ clothes and a _little_ bit of money, nothing crazy."

"You would live out of a backpack if you could," Max said as she stuck her tongue out at Chloe getting a smile from her.

"Earth to Maxine, I pretty much am. I mean, I'm wearing one of your shirts right now because mine are dirty," Chloe pointed out as Max glanced over to her. Chloe had taken one that was a little long on her but better fitting on Chloe.

"A backpack, my closet, and my dorm room," Max said with a smile as Chloe glanced over to her. She shook her head a second later as a thought crossed her mind, "I guess that is technically what it is, but really I like to think of it as our room at this point."

"Our own extra tiny apartment in the Blackwell dorms?" Chloe asked as Max chuckled.

"Our very own extra tiny apartment," Max confirmed.

* * *

 **An hour or two later. . .**

Max sat on her bed with her eyes closed as Chloe raised a fork up to her mouth and smiled. "Alright, try and guess this one and no peeking," she said as Max took a bite of whatever Chloe was giving her.

"Strawberry," Max said with a smile, "that one was easy."

 _Knock, knock, knock. . ._

"Who is it?" Chloe asked as she put the fork down on the paper plate she had sitting on the bed in front of Max.

"Joyce."

"Come in," Chloe said glancing over to the door as it opened.

"Oh, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Joyce asked as Chloe blushed thinking her mom was suggesting something else.

"No," Max said shaking her head, "we were just playing a game."

"Oh," Joyce said in a way that made them think she didn't believe them. "Well I just wanted to tell you that I talked with your parents. They know the rules I gave you, Chloe, so you better behave."

"Mom, I get it, I'm not a child anymore," Chloe said with that same blush that was now caused from being embarrassed in front of her girlfriend. "Besides, it's not like I want to make a bad impression on her parents."

Joyce smiled, the change in Chloe's attitude was becoming more noticeable by the day. "I never said you did, I just don't want you getting in to trouble while you are away. Home by midnight and I expect a call every day."

Max smiled trying not to laugh as Chloe looked at her mother, "I know, I know, you've already made it perfectly clear what will happen if I get in trouble."

"I'll make sure she doesn't get in trouble," Max said with a smile as Joyce chuckled.

"I figured you might say something like that and I know you will, because she is a good girlfriend," Joyce said turning her attention to Chloe who just smiled.

"The best girlfriend," Chloe said in response.

"I don't know about that, I wouldn't have my job if it wasn't for you," Max responded quickly as Chloe leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.

Joyce smiled, "well I think it's safe to say you two watch out for each other and I trust both of you. I just don't want anything to go wrong while you are at Max's house."

"Nothing will, my parents loved Chloe back in the day and they seem alright with me and Chloe being together," Max explained as Joyce nodded.

"Yes they did," Joyce confirmed as she looked to Max. "We talked about your relationship with each other a little bit, I think your mother is just as surprised as I was."

"I don't blame you, I mean, the town was destroyed and the first thing we tell you is that we're together," Max said as she shook her head, partially from feeling that familiar guilt and partially because she realized how odd it must have seemed. "We probably could have waited, but. . ."

"I didn't want to," Chloe said as Max smiled for a moment. "As much as everything sucks, it could have been worse. . ." Max sighed inwardly with a small nod. "I almost died without telling you how I felt."

Max felt her emotions get the better of her and covered her eyes with a hand, the thought of Chloe dying in that bathroom crossing her mind. "I couldn't do it."

"Hey, hey, shh," Chloe said with a frown as she moved the plate aside and pulled Max into a hug. She knew she had to be careful with what she said, but it was the truth."

Joyce sighed feeling a little down herself by the thought of Chloe not being there.

"I still wouldn't do it," Max cried into Chloe.

"Max, shh," Chloe said as she ran a hand through her hair, "everything is fine."

"I'll let you two be alone, we can talk later," Joyce said as Chloe looked over at her and nodded.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't think before I said that," Chloe sighed knowing this was her fault.

"It's not your fault," Max sniffled, "I just can't handle the thought of losing you, it kills me. I can't expect you to keep everything bottled up though so that my feelings aren't hurt. I put you through all of this and as much as I wish I was the only one who knew, I'm not."

"You're right," Chloe said with a sigh, "you were the one who put me through all of this."

Max looked at Chloe for a moment before going silent, the tone in Chloe's voice grim.

"If it wasn't for you, I could have avoided all of it. I would be dead, murdered by some freak in a public bathroom because of the stupid decisions I made."

Max glanced up to her noticing the change in her voice, she sounded vulnerable.

"I've thought about everything that has happened and the reason I don't say too much about it is because I realize I would be dead if you hadn't saved me. . . As horrible as it is, this past week or two with you has been the best time of my life. I've cried, I've laughed, and I've really fallen in love. . . You didn't just save me, Max, you've given me a second chance at a decent life. I know that deep down if I wasn't here then someone else would be and that sucks, it sucks so bad, especially because you had to make the decision."

Max looked back down at the bed below her.

"No one should have had to make that decision, but it's the best thing that has ever happened to me and not just because I got to live. I am sitting here with the most awesome girl in the world and she loves me just as much as I love her. That is the thought that is keeping me sane right now. I love you Maxine Caulfield and I'm sorry for not thinking before I speak."

"I'm sorry for being such a wimp," Max sighed feeling horrible now. "I wish I could just forget about this storm."

"You can't," Chloe said as she placed a hand on Max's knee for emphasis, "you can however talk to me about it. I get what you're going through and I don't like seeing you hurt, but you need to know you are not alone in this."

Max smiled a little before taking a deep breath and looking at Chloe, "you're getting really good at saying the right thing, you know that?"

Chloe smiled this time but only for a moment before leaning in to give Max a quick kiss. "I've always been hella good at this type of stuff, you're just the first person that has meant enough for me to show it."

Max smiled uncaring if Chloe saw the blush on her face as she turned away from her. "I love you."

Chloe smiled, she loved seeing Max a mushy mess, especially when she was the one that got her that way, "I love you too, Maxine and I'm sorry. . . Let's forget about this for now and watch a movie? We could even pack some if it makes you feel better."

"We can watch a movie a little later, I want to take a shower and we need to wash your clothes before we can pack them."

Chloe glanced down to the shirt that she was wearing, which belong to Max. "Yea, laundry would probably be a good idea. A shower sounds like a good idea too though."

Max looked away for a second before sighing, "fine, but if there is anyone in there deal is off."

"I'll go shoo them out then quick," Chloe said as she stood from her chair. Max grabbed onto her arm almost immediately.

"You win," Max sighed, "if there is someone in there we'll just be really quiet and you better not make any noise."

Chloe grinned, "I would never."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright, so there is the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. The story for me feels like it's moving again, I felt like I was stuck for a little while and there is still things I have done in this story that I think I would change now that I've done them. They are nothing major, mostly the way Max reacts to the situation here and there. Overall, I'm happy with it even though I know not everyone has agreed with decisions I have made. I don't really have much else to say here, if you want to know more just send me a PM, I'm pretty good at lengthy ones haha. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N:_ Hey, everyone, so I know it has been a long time on this story. School has taken up most of my free time, I won't go into the details, but I'm in my final semester so I have a lot on my plate. To make matters worse, I had some pc issues in Feb and actually lost a part of my Fan Fiction folder. I didn't really lose anything except a chapter or two of this story, one of which was this chapter. I was over halfway done with it and had to redo it. Anyways, it's all sorted and good now and the chapter is being posted. I am not stopping on the story for those who were worrying, I'm just simply very busy. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long, I feel terrible for making everyone wait so long for updates. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 _Bzzt. . . Bzzt. . ._

Max's eyes popped open at the buzzing of her phone next to her head. Without even moving much she grabbed the phone and answered it figuring it was Chloe. "Hello?"

"Maxine," a familiar voice said as Max's eyes widened and she sat up, "I didn't wake you did I?"

Max glanced to the clock it was just past nine, "uhh, no, no, I was just lying in bed was all."

"Oh good, do you have a minute to talk?" The man asked which was Max's boss or at least the person who reviewed her pictures back at the station. She had only talked with him a few times, but when she did she always tried to be professional even though she was usually nervous like she was now. Her boss calling always meant bad news in her head, something Chloe had been trying to get her over.

"Yes, of course," Max answered as she glanced around the room. Chloe must have gotten up early and gone to do something. She seemed to be doing this lately, Max could only figure Chloe went to see her mother while she slept.

"Great, I wanted to ask you about one photo in specific before you left on your trip."

Max raised an eyebrow, "alright. . .?"

"There is one picture in here with a blue haired girl, I assume this is. . ."

"My girlfriend," Max answered as she screamed in her head, how could she have forgotten to take those photos off the camera before sending them in.

"That is what I thought," he replied as he glanced down to the photo. "Does she go with you when you take photographs? It's not a big deal, we are just trying to find out more about this girl and you. I'll tell you why in a minute."

Max scratched the back of her head, she really felt like she might have done something wrong now. "Uhh, yea, she goes with me. Chloe doesn't have a job right now, she is trying to find one at the school and I didn't think it would be a big deal. I can tell her she can't come anymore, I completely understand."

"No," the man said interrupting Max, "you don't need to do anything like that. In fact we've seen her a few times and honestly Max every picture that comes after her is perfection. I imagine she has a great effect on your picture taking ability."

Max smiled a little as she looked to the floor, "yea, she seems to always help me focus or… I don't know really, I just know that she helps me see things I don't normally. She also drives me places, so that helps too."

"It shows," her boss answered as Max smiled, "in fact we would like to make an offer. We don't need an answer today, think it over on your trip. I would like to extend a job offer to Chloe. I think she would make an excellent…assistant for you, especially seeing as though she already helps you get around."

"Y-You're serious?" Max asked as her boss laughed a little.

"Yes, Max, I am serious. You are currently our top photographer and I don't see that changing anytime soon. We've been reading the comments on your pictures and everyone is loving them. It only seems right that we ensure you can do your job properly with results like this."

Max blinked once or twice, "Top. . .?"

"As of right now, you are the photographer bringing in the most people. It could be because you are newer and you have a style of your own. I've seen it a few times where new photographers have good numbers and then fall off, but I get the feeling that this isn't the case. You've got a lot of talent, Max.

"Thank you," Max said with a smile as she looked towards the floor, "Chloe is always telling me that."

"Well, I wouldn't mind meeting her soon for that possible job. Just let her know about it, I won't be expecting and answer until you are back from your parents. Enjoy your time off."

"Thank you…Chloe will be thrilled to hear about the offer, if it wasn't for her you probably wouldn't have received my pictures in the first place."

Her boss smiled, "you're an excellent photographer, Max. You'll have to thank her for me personally for introducing us and I do hope I can speak with her soon."

"Yes of course," Max said as she felt her heart jump a little, this day was already off to an incredible start. "Thank you for everything, I will be sure to tell her."

"Alright, you have a good day."

"You too," Max said as she hung up the phone and just held it in her hand for a moment as a thousand thoughts rushed through her head.

These thoughts would pause momentarily when the door to the room opened slowly and Chloe peeked her head in. She was being careful to be quiet in case Max was still sleeping, but when she saw her standing in the middle of the room she stepped in normally and shut the door.

Chloe couldn't help but notice the awkward smile on Max's face as she set down some of the things she had got from the cafeteria. "What's going on?"

Max couldn't hide the smile anymore as she tossed her phone to the bed and went over to give Chloe a kiss. "I just got some amazing news that I think you will be pretty happy about."

Chloe just blinked, it was obvious by the way Max was moving that she was excited. "I'm pretty happy already, I just got an unexpected kiss from the cutest girl on campus."

Max's smile turned to more of a grin for a moment, "I don't remember anyone saying that about me before."

Chloe tried to hide a smile as she shook her head, something about Max's excitement which was evident on her was really cute to her. "I just did."

Max chuckled, Chloe always had those quick responses no matter how cheesy they were.

"So what's the good news? I can tell you're excited about it, I can see it on your face," Chloe explained as Max did her best to relax.

"I just got a phone call from my boss and they are happy with my pictures."

Chloe waited a moment for Max to continue. ". . .and?"

Max smiled again, "they were interested in a particular one that was not supposed to be on the camera."

Chloe thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with the photo that Max was talking about. She usually would look through them with Max before she submitted them, but this last time she didn't remember doing that.

"It had you in it," Max teased as the life drained from Chloe's face as her thoughts raced to things no one but Max should see. Then again she couldn't remember the two taking any private pictures. "It was nothing bad," Max added to calm Chloe's wandering mind. "I had taken a picture of you and forgot to take it off. I just kind of submitted all the pictures, but my boss was really interested in it."

Chloe raised an eyebrow, "why would he be interested in a picture of me when you were supposed to be getting pictures of the cleanup efforts?"

"I can explain that later, but long story short he wants to make an offer."

"An offer? What kind of offer?" Chloe asked curiously as Max pressed her lips together and shrugged. Chloe grinned, she caught onto the game right away, "I would hate to have to force that answer out of you, Maxine Caulfield."

Max just simply shrugged again before taking a step back. She glanced behind her when she felt her bed against her leg. Chloe took advantage and moved to her quickly giving her a little push back onto the bed when she looked back.

"So let's find out what Max is hiding."

 **A few hours later. . .**

Chloe laid back onto the floor and sighed as she looked up at Max who was sitting on the edge of the bed playing the guitar.

"Nervous?" Max asked as Chloe glanced up to her for a moment.

"What is there to be nervous about? I mean, it's not like I haven't met your parents before."

"True," Max agreed with a small nod before looking back down to her guitar only momentarily. "The last time you did see them though you weren't my girlfriend."

Chloe sighed again as she glanced back to Max, "thanks for the reminder. I'll keep it in mind next time you expect me to tell you that I love you."

Max smiled a little as she set her guitar down, "you'll do it anyway," she said as she climbed off her bed and laid down next to Chloe.

"What makes you so sure?" Chloe asked as she turned her head towards Max who just shrugged.

"I just know you will."

"I guess we will just see about that, but truth be told I'm more nervous about my hair," Chloe said as she lifted a strand of her blue hair and sighed. "What are your parents going to think when they see me?"

"You're kidding me right?" Max asked as she looked to Chloe who was still holding her hair.

"What?"

"You're more nervous about what my parents will think of your hair versus being in a relationship with their daughter?"

"No," Chloe answered as she let go of her hair and rolled onto her side so she was facing Max. "I'm more nervous that your parents won't accept me as your girlfriend because of the way I look. I'm not exactly the church going girl you bring home to your parents."

"I get what you're saying," Max replied before taking a deep breath trying to collect her thoughts a little. "You [ everything to be perfect too. I know for a fact though that my parents will see what I see in you. I guess what I'm trying to say is your perfect the way you are and I don't think you should worry about that, just be yourself."

Chloe smiled, "I love you."

Max chuckled, "I told you, you would say it."

Chloe rolled her eyes, she had no idea how Max was this calm about the situation. "I know I'm probably worrying about nothing, but it has been on my mind."

"Well don't worry, if things don't go well, I'll just tell my mom I'm into bad girls."

Chloe blinked a few times before shaking her head and rolling back onto her back. "I am in love with the biggest dork to ever walk the earth."

Max smiled as she lifted herself up and climbed over top of Chloe who just glanced to her without moving. "Everything will be fine, I promise," Max said as she leaned down and gave Chloe a kiss which was somehow oddly calming to Chloe. "We should probably finish packing though, tomorrow is going to be a big day and it would suck to forget something."

"I think I pretty much have everything," Chloe said as she glanced towards the door where one of their bags was sitting.

"Then you can help me finish packing."

Chloe quickly glanced up to Max, "oh really? Now why would I do a thing like that?"

Max grinned, "Simple, it's because I have complete control over you in this position…and because you love me."

Chloe thought for a moment before a devilish grin appeared on her face and with one quick motion she rolled Max over onto her back so she was now hovering over her. "What were you saying about being in control?"

Max glanced to her left and right quick taking note that Chloe was pinning her arms to the floor. When she looked up at Chloe she saw that same devilish grin again. "I let you do this."

Chloe laughed, "Biggest dork ever," she said as she leaned down and kissed Max for as long as she could before breaking the kiss and taking a deep breath as she rolled off the top of Max. "Alright, I think I can help you pack."

"Finish packing and then go get dinner?"

"I could definitely do that."

 **The next morning. . .**

"Mom, we will be fine, I promise," Chloe said as she put a bag in the back of the truck. Joyce had made it a point to see them off.

"Maxine, make sure she calls me," Joyce said as Max smiled and gave a nod.

"I will," Max said as Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Chloe, I'm serious, I want a phone call to make sure you are _both_ alright. If you don't call me, I will be calling both of you, frequently."

"Don't worry mom, I will call you, I promise," Chloe said as she went and gave her mom a hug.

"Make sure you do," Joyce said as she looked to Max and motioned her over with her head. "Don't think you're leaving without a hug."

Max smiled as she went over and gave Joyce a hug as Chloe walked around the truck. "I'll give you a call at the first stop we take."

"I'll be waiting for it," Joyce said as she watched Max walk back towards the truck and open the door. "You two have fun now and Chloe Price don't you dare be nervous."

Chloe just simply blushed slightly as she quickly climbed in the truck and put the key in the ignition. "Kill me now."

Max chuckled as she glanced back to Joyce for a moment who was waving her goodbye. "It can't be that embarrassing," Max said as she waved back at Joyce just as the truck started moving.

"I'll remember that line when you're in my shoes," Chloe said as she glanced to her left before turning onto the road and taking a deep breath. "Well, it's just and the road now."

"Nervous yet?" Max asked as Chloe glanced to her.

"Hella, which reminds me. You said you weren't going to tell me what you found out yesterday until we were on our way to your parents, so spill the beans."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** Hello, so I know it's been a little while and I am truly sorry. I will be posting this chapter and the next chapter right now, I've had them for awhile now. I'm about halfway done with 18 and over halfway done with the very last chapter of the story whatever number that is, it's probably 19 or 20. This story has been a learning experience for me as most long ones are, I don't think I'm very good at them personally, but at this point in time I should have split this one into two stories. I won't be doing that, but I should have, the story feels strange to me. I'm not sure it was what I set out for it to be when I started. Anyways, once this story is done I will be taking a look at Caught Together again because I do realize it's not done and I don't have an excuse for it. I want to finish it though because I really do like this couple. After that is done, I don't know though, I may write more Life is Strange, I might just go back to writing MSGM and SP! I guess we will just have to see what the future holds, I'm torn as I like writing for all three. I don't think I have much more to say here except that I hope you like this and I hope you can forgive me for posting so slowly. You can PM me if you want to know more or have any questions about the stories or what stories I'm thinking of next. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

The next author note will be at the end of chapter 17 since I'm posting these at the same time.

* * *

Chloe tapped her fingers against the steering wheel to the music that was playing. To the right of her on the seat was a crumpled up fast food bag followed by Max wrapped up in a blanket. It turned out Max had been more nervous than she had made obvious and because of that she had barely slept the night before.

Truthfully, Chloe hadn't slept that well either, but being in control behind the wheel was keeping her awake. It probably didn't help that they had stopped and looked at things along the way. It was already pretty dark now and Chloe could feel that lack of sleep catching up with her.

Turning up the radio a little didn't help much and after a few miles of trying to sing along to keep herself engaged in something she felt the sleepiness coming back.

"Hey, Max," Chloe said with a glance towards her as Max's eyes opened slowly.

Max blinked a few times before stretching as much as she could considering she was in the front seat of a truck. "Where are we?"

"We're about three hours out still according to the phone, but I'm getting kinda tired," Chloe explained as Max checked the clock. "You mind talking to me to keep me up?"

Max shook her head, "no, but instead of making the trip, why don't we just get a hotel for the night. I don't want you falling asleep behind the wheel. Just keep an eye out for any hotel signs you see and we will get a room for the night. I'll send my mom and your mom a text."

"Thanks," Chloe replied before glancing to her phone. "It looks like there is a town coming up here soon enough, I'm sure they have a hotel."

"I'll look one up, just keep an eye on the road," Max said after sending their parents a text message. "It looks like the nearest one is about ten minutes away."

"Alright, hopefully they aren't booked or I will be curling up with you under that blanket."

"You still will be, just in a nice hotel room that has running water and a bed."

"I could totally go for a shower and some food," Chloe said as she leaned her head against the window. Long drives like this always made her tired and she knew once she got out and was able to walk around a little she would be much more awake.

"Food, shower, and a movie," Max said with a nod. "That sounds like an awesome idea, especially considering all we've had to eat today was that," she said looking at the fast food bag.

"It's hard to eat when you're on the road making frequent stops to look at things."

"I got a lot of really cool pictures to remember our first trip together. I'll have to put them on my wall when we get back. I could start a new photo project too dedicated to just us. That is after we sort through them, I imagine I'll have a ton by the time we get back."

Chloe smiled as she glanced over to Max for a moment who was looking at her phone. She loved how passionate Max was about her pictures, it always made her happy when she heard Max talk about them.

"It looks like the next exit is what we are looking for," Max said as she looked up from her phone. "Yea, it's this one coming up on the right. I think I can see the hotel sign."

Chloe glanced to her right to try and see the sign as she hit the blinker to take the exit ramp. "I see it too. You see any place you want to get food?"

"I don't really care," Max replied shaking her head before looking towards Chloe who just shrugged.

"We'll figure it out once we get our hotel room."

 _Bzzt. . . Bzzt. . ._

Both girls glanced to the phone in Max's hand as the screen lit up illuminating the truck.

"Who is it?" Chloe asked noticing she had an incoming call.

"Hey Joyce," Max answered as Chloe rolled her eyes. She should have known her mother would call when there was something unexpected happening.

"I'm glad one of you answers there phone. I was just calling about the text you sent me, is everything alright?"

"Yea, everything is fine, Chloe is just getting tired and we still have a few hours to go so we figured we would get a hotel room for the night," Max explained as Chloe pulled into the hotel parking lot.

"I'm going to go get the room," Chloe said as Max nodded and watched Chloe climb out of the truck.

"You have enough money for the room right?"

Max nodded, "yea, we have plenty for this. We stopped and looked at a few things along the way which is why we are where we are now."

"Remind Chloe to thank you for that. I'm sure taking a day for just the two of you will help ease her nerves," Joyce explained as Max raised an eyebrow.

"Is she really that nervous?" Max asked curiously. She knew Chloe was nervous but she had seemed pretty normal today.

"Oh, you mean to tell me she hasn't told you?" Joyce asked with a surprised tone.

"Told me about what?" Max asked as she glanced out the passenger window and saw Chloe standing at the front desk inside still.

"She came to visit me the other day while you were still sleeping. She is a lot more nervous than she is leading on Max. She may seem tough on the outside and she is, but you mean a lot to her. She doesn't want anything to go wrong."

Max sighed, "I know she doesn't want anything to go wrong, but I wonder why she didn't tell me how nervous she was. I don't' want to force her into a situation she isn't comfortable in."

"That is why she didn't tell you Max. She knows you would push going to see your parents back and she didn't want that."

Max remained silent for a moment, she knew Chloe was right in thinking that way. "She isn't having second thoughts about coming with me is she?"

"No, Max that isn't it at all. She wants to go with you, it is all she has been talking about with me when she visits. She just worries your parents won't like what she has become."

Max frowned, she couldn't help but think about Chloe worrying about her hair color again. "Is there anything I can do to help her?"

"I think you just being with her is helping her, Max. She is afraid of not being deemed good enough by your parents. She is blowing it out of proportion in her mind. I know you'll take care of her though."

"I wish there was something I could do to help her," Max said with a small sigh as she glanced over and saw Chloe approaching the truck. "She is coming back now."

Joyce smiled for a moment, "don't worry too much, Max or you may worry her even more."

"You're right," Max said glancing over to Chloe as she opened the truck door. "I'll text you tomorrow when we leave."

"Alright, I'll talk with you soon tell Chloe I love her, would you?"

"I will," Max replied before saying goodbye and hanging up.

"That was a long call. Want to fill me in on what happened?" Chloe asked as Max thought about it for a moment before smiling and shaking her head.

"Nope, but I am supposed to tell you that your mother loves you."

Chloe looked at her for a moment before casually shrugging, "I guess you're sleeping in the truck tonight," she said as she closed the door and went to grab her things.

"Hey!" Max yelled before climbing out of the truck and going to the back to get her stuff like Chloe had been.

Chloe couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Max's face which only made her roll her eyes. "I bet your mother would love to hear that you made your dearest girlfriend sleep in the truck overnight."

Chloe sighed as she waited for Max to come around to her side of the truck with her things in hand. "She would probably drive down here and kick in all the hotel room doors until she found me. In the end I would be sleeping in the truck."

"Probably for a week," Max chuckled as Chloe nodded.

"If she didn't kill me first. I swear she loves you just as much as she loves me," Chloe said before thinking about tomorrow. ". . .I just hope your parents like me."

"My parents are going to welcome you back into their lives just like your mom did to me, I promise."

"I get what you're saying, but you are a lot different than me," Chloe pointed out as she stopped at a door and used the key to open it. She sighed realizing how that sounded, "that was the wrong choice of words I didn't mean that in a bad way."

"I know you didn't," Max said before Chloe could go on, it was easy to tell right now Chloe wasn't very confident.

"Sorry, my head is just all over the place, it sucks," Chloe replied with a shake of her head as she set her stuff down on a small table in the room while Max set her things on the bed. "Do you think I should try and dye my hair tonight?"

Max sighed inwardly as she turned and looked at Chloe who was holding up a strand of her own hair for inspection. "You're really worried about it aren't you?"

Chloe frowned before going over to the bed and taking a seat, tossing her beanie to the side. "I know you it's stupid and I know I shouldn't be stressing over it, but it's killing me Max. I'm just so afraid of what they are going to say when we see them tomorrow."

Max frowned this time as she went and took a seat next to Chloe. "I wish I could tell you, but I can't. . . All I know is that if I was in their shoes, I would be more concerned with my recently out daughter bringing home her best friend turned girlfriend. Besides, if you dye your hair you won't be totally hot anymore, you'll just be…meh, I guess." Max said with a shrug trying hard not to smile as Chloe faked a hurt expression at her.

"Your parent's approval or my girlfriend thinking I'm totally hot… Which one is better . . .?" Chloe pondered for a moment as Max grinned taking advantage of the situation.

"Let me help you with that thought," she said pushing Chloe back onto the bed and climbing over top of her. "You being totally hot will get you a lot more of this and I'm kind of attracted to the rebel life if you haven't noticed."

"I think I've made my decision," Chloe said as Max grinned and gave her a quick kiss.

"Before you tell me," Max said as she sat up and took her shirt off tossing to the side like Chloe's beanie. "Let's take a shower, it will give you more time to think about it."

Chloe looked at the newly exposed skin before her for a moment. "A lot more of this . . .?" She asked glancing over Max once more. "I don't think I need to think about it anymore."

Max smiled as she climbed off Chloe and started heading towards the shower. "I didn't realize I could be so convincing," she said as she took her jeans off and looked to Chloe whose eyes were now glued to her.

"You'd be surprised," Chloe mumbled as Max disappeared into the bathroom.

 **A few hours later. . .**

Max smiled a little as she glanced from the movie they were watching down to Chloe who had fallen asleep with her head resting on Max's stomach. After an abnormally long shower they had decided to order in pizza and rent a movie.

It was the mental break Chloe had needed. Max had tried hard to keep her attention, even during the movie they just mostly talked until Chloe snuggled close and eventually fell asleep. Max was thankful that she was finally out though, the last thing Chloe needed was to be tired and worried.

"I love you, Chloe," Max whispered as she ran a hand through Chloe's hair and smiled. "Everything will be fine tomorrow, I promise."


	17. Chapter 17

Chloe took a deep breath as she stared at the red light in front of them. They were only about five minutes from Max's house which was obvious by the fact that Max was telling her about everything they passed by. She was really interested in everything Max was saying, but she knew every minute they drove she was that much closer to meeting her parents.

"Hello . . .?"

Chloe glanced over to Max quick for a moment with that guilty look that told Max she wasn't listening. "Hi," she responded as Max motioned towards the now green light. "Oh shit."

"You feeling alright?" Max asked curiously as Chloe nodded before hitting the blinker and turning into a burger shops parking lot.

"Yea, I'm just hungry, let's get something first," Chloe said as Max raised an eyebrow for a moment, this decision was sudden.

"Alright, I'll text my parents and let them know where we are."

"Great," Chloe said as she glanced to the phone in Max's hand and saw her fingers darting back and forth.

"Alright, I told them we would be there in about twenty minutes."

"What if I'm a slow eater?" She asked as she turned off the truck and looked to Max.

Max sighed, she knew what Chloe was up to. "Are you even hungry?"

Chloe slouched, "no. . ."

Max smiled for a moment as Chloe looked away from her. She knew she needed to try and cheer her up a little. "Good, this place sucks."

Chloe lifted her head and looked to her for a moment before smiling, something about Max not being worried calmed her a little. "You mind if we just sit here for a minute?"

"I told my parents about twenty minutes, so I think we have some time and it's not like we have to be there in exactly twenty minutes," Max replied as Chloe nodded, she hated that she was being so cowardly. She had no idea why she was so scared, but this feeling was only getting more intense the closer they got to Max's house.

"Countdown timer to doomsday officially begins now," Chloe sighed.

"Doomsday or the biggest step officially taken in our relationship?" Max countered curiously as Chloe thought for a moment.

"Are both possible?"

"You think the biggest step officially taken in our relationship is equivalent to doomsday?" Max asked faking a hurt expression.

Chloe shrugged, "I guess that depends on what your parents think of me and my blue hair."

"You want to find out and get all this worrying over with?" Max asked as Chloe looked over to her with an uncertain look on her face. She knew it might be the best option.

"Do I look alright?"

"When don't you?" Max asked as Chloe looked at her and smiled for a moment. Max was getting pretty good at saying the right things when they needed to be said.

"Alright, let's go meet your parents," Chloe decided as she turned the truck on and started backing out the parking space.

"You already know them. . ."

 **About five minutes later. . .**

"It's that house on the right," Max said as she pointed for Chloe.

Chloe felt butterflies in her stomach, "I think I left something very important back in Arcadia Bay, we should go get it."

"Good idea, while we're at it we can stop by and tell your mom why we're back early," Max responded as if it were no big deal.

Chloe on the other hand could only give her a dirty look as she decided to pull into the driveway, "you wouldn't dare."

"I guess we'll never know. It looks my parents saw us pull in," Max said as she glanced over to her parents coming out of the house to meet her in the driveway.

"Oh great, just what I needed," Chloe said feeling the full effect of her nerves now as Max climbed out of the vehicle to greet her parents with a hug. Chloe tried hard to not show them as she somehow got out of the truck and walked around the front of it until she was just a few feet away from Max's parents. Somehow seeing them smiling helped calm her a little bit. Only a little though, feeling Max's hand take her own really was what helped the most.

"Wow, look at you, Chloe. You're all grown up now."

Chloe straightened up as she looked to Max's father, Ryan, and her mind went completely numb. "Uhh, yea look at me, I guess that happens over time…" Chloe shook her head, "I mean w-when years pass…I guess . . .?"

Max's father raised an eyebrow as Chloe closed her eyes and sighed. Max took this as her queue to step in, "she is just nervous," Max explained as she glanced to Chloe for a moment. "It's been a long time since either of you have seen her and . . . I mean I'm nervous too."

"I get it," Ryan replied before taking a step back so he was standing with his wife again.

"I'm sorry, it's just a lot to take in seeing you again, but in our current situation." Chloe tried to explain, but again it came out awkward.

"Well I never thought the first time Max returning home would be with her best friend turned girlfriend. It was the furthest thing from my mind when we sent her back to Arcadia Bay. I didn't even realize she liked girls," Max's mother, Vanessa, explained as Max scratched the back of her head a little.

"About that too, mom. . ." Max trailed off as her mother raised an eyebrow curiously. Max thought for a moment before shaking her head, "never mind, we can talk about that later, it's been a long trip."

"Right, let me help you two carry your stuff in," her father said as Max gave a nod and turned to start grabbing their things. "This is all you brought between the two of you?"

"Yea, we were going to go clothes shopping while we were here. Chloe doesn't have much left over after the storm."

"Oh, right, sorry," he apologized to Chloe who was on the other side of the truck but brushed it off. Even though the storm had destroyed her home, things were actually looking up for her.

"I think that is everything," Max said taking a look through the passenger window to see if they missed anything.

"Well you will be happy to know your room is exactly as you had left it," her father said as Max groaned a little while following him upstairs with Chloe behind her. The last thing she wanted was to see the disaster of clothes she had left lying around before she went to Arcadia Bay. She breathed a sigh of relief however when he opened the door and she saw no clothing anywhere. "Here we are, I'll just set your bags down here."

"Thanks," Chloe said as Ryan gave her a nod.

"No problem, now if you two were going to clothes shopping today that is fine. I just wanted to let you know that your mother is planning on making a special dinner tonight for all of us. So be back by six if you do and don't' fill up while you're gone."

"Thanks, dad," Max said before going over and giving him another hug.

"It's good to have you home again," he said before leaving Max and Chloe to themselves.

"See nothing to be worried about," Max said as she closed her bedroom door and turned to Chloe.

"I sounded like an idiot out there. I just couldn't form words."

"That was obvious," Max pointed out as Chloe gave her a dirty look. "I think it worked out in the end though, my dad even escorted us to my room."

Chloe took a deep breath as she nodded and looked around the room, "yep, I am truly in the dork cave now. I like that you have a photo wall just like at school. I don't see much of me though."

"That is because I haven't been able to replace things yet."

"Who is this girl you're with in this picture? I see her in a lot of these," Chloe asked curiously as Max glanced over the picture she was inspecting.

"Oh, that is just a friend from school."

"A friend from school? Why do you have so many of her and you?" Chloe questioned further as Max raised an eyebrow.

"I like the pictures?" She replied as Chloe crossed her arms and turned to Max.

"They're alright, I guess."

"Wowzers, I didn't realize Chloe Price could get jealous over some pictures."

Chloe squinted at her as she went over and unzipped one of her bags to place her phone in, "I'm not jealous, I just wanted to know and the pictures aren't that great, I'm just being an honest critic."

"You're hella jealous," Max said shaking her head as Chloe frowned. "If it makes you feel better, I didn't even realize I liked girls when I last talked with her."

"Alright, Caulfield, listen here," Chloe said as Max looked at her all ears. "One, I'm not hella jealous. Two, I love when you say hella, it's hot. Three, the pictures aren't all that great, but mainly because that other girl is ugly, and finally, I just needed to make sure no one else was after my Maxine Caulfield."

Max rolled her eyes, "just think what would happen to your reputation if everyone found out you were jealous of a few pictures."

"Something tells me sleeping with you already ruined whatever reputation anyone thought I had," Chloe said before quickly covering her mouth and looking towards the door. Thankfully it was closed and no one came barging in. "I'm so glad no one heard that. The last thing I need to for your parents to kick me out."

Max smiled, she hated that Chloe was nervous, but at the same time it did make her feel loved that Chloe was trying so hard. "Don't worry, no one heard you. To be honest it's nice to hear you talk like yourself, you've been so nervous the past day or two."

"I know, I just don't' want to screw things up, they seem alright with me for now."

"I told you they would be alright with you," Max said as she went over to her closet and opened it up. There was still a big empty spot where she had taken all her clothes from. "If they do act odd around you, just give them time, they'll open up, I promise."

"I'll keep that in mind," Chloe said before glancing over to Max and seeing her closet. "Wow, clothes that aren't zip up hoodies and jeans, I'm impressed."

Max turned to Chloe and rolled her eyes as she went over and grabbed her bag of clothes. "Yes, I do own other clothes believe or not. . . I just don't really wear them often," she said under her breath as Chloe gave her a weird look trying to figure out what she said.

"Speaking of clothes, when did you want to get some more?" Chloe asked as she dug through her bag. She was hoping to find something possibly more presentable for dinner, but she wasn't going to tell Max that.

"We can do it whenever you want. We can go now or we can just relax today and go tomorrow, it doesn't matter to me."

"Your mother is making dinner for us tonight. How long do you think it would it take?"

Max thought for a moment, she figured the store she usually went to probably wouldn't fit Chloe's style so a mall would be best. "A few hours, but we should fine," she replied as Chloe nodded and glanced back down to her bag. "How you holding up?"

"Fine," Chloe said looking up at Max and nodding. "I'm fine. I just need some new clothes really badly," she said as she glanced back down to her bag. Max could tell Chloe was bothered or at the very least worried, especially since she never really seemed to care about clothes all that much.

"Well why don't we head to the mall then? I'll tell my mom where we're going and we can figure out what time dinner is then. That sound good?" Max asked as Chloe nodded.

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright so there it is chapter 16 and 17. I hope it isn't too sloppy because I actually came back and made changes all over this chapter because I'm not very pleased with it to be honest. It's alright the way it came out and maybe I'm just over thinking it but it's been long enough between posts already so I felt like I had to put it out after patching it up a little. The main issue I have with this chapter is how I portray Chloe, I just don't think I got the feeling I wanted her to have across very well. Hopefully I'm just overthinking this, anyways, I hope you enjoyed it!


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